


Familiar Stranger

by enjaes



Category: Bleach
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-10-24 14:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 49,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10743462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjaes/pseuds/enjaes
Summary: AU. Ichigo left everything behind – the Shinigami, the fighting, the power struggles – when he walked away eight years ago after the war ended. But now that he's dead, he doesn't have a choice but to face it all again. How would he go about it?





	1. Chapter 1

Note:

 _Italic – Ichigo mental speech_  
**Bold Italic – Shiro speech  
** **Bold – Zangetsu speech**

* * *

'Yesterday, a traffic accident along ZhongShan Street resulted in one fatality. The deceased has been identified to be Kurosaki Ichigo of Japanese descent, who has been working in China for the past year. An unexpected buildup of …'

As the news report continued on in the background, Kisuke's mind was whirling. It had been eight years since he last saw Ichigo, right after the war against Aizen ended. Ichigo's role in the war was pivotal to their victory against Aizen and he gained hero status in Soul Society. By that time, Ichigo was already more powerful than all the Captains, and many speculated that he could even win against the Captain-Commander. Naturally, he was offered a position as Captain of a squad in the Gotei 13 during the last War Assembly since he had already been leading Shinigami into battle and took part in all their War Councils.

Ichigo refused without even considering.

After that, Ichigo returned to the Human World and went completely off radar. It seems that after working with the Shinigami for so long, Ichigo picked up some useful tricks to avoid their monitoring. Not even Kisuke had managed to find him after all these years…

Until now.

'KISUKE! DID YOU SEE-'

Yes. Yes he did. Kisuke hung up on a rambling Hiyori who had called about the news.

After the war ended, Kisuke and the other Vizard were pardoned for their supposed crimes and were invited back to Soul Society. However, they chose to remain free-lanced in the Human World while occasionally carrying out the required Shinigami duties.

It was only because of this arrangement that they caught the news of Ichigo's death that was reported on an obscure news channel.

* * *

Here Kisuke was, in Urahara Shoten, sitting in front of the television, not entirely comprehending the situation.

Ichigo… died?

Kisuke knew for a fact that the human body was extremely fragile no matter how powerful the soul was, and it was entirely normal for anyone to die at any time. Kisuke just never expected Ichigo, of all people, to come to the end of his human life so soon. No one really expects people they know, or even themselves, to just up and die like that. This was troubling. Kisuke didn't know what to feel, but he didn't have time for that.

There were plans to be put to action.

* * *

The last thing Ichigo remembered as he was struggling for consciousness was the bus. It drove right into the side of his car, and he could see so much blood around.

Was it his own?

He was barely conscious and could hear people shouting all around the wreckage. His body was definitely crushed, but strangely, he couldn't feel any pain.

What happened to the kid? Was the kid alright?

Ichigo had been driving home that evening when a child of about six years of age ran onto the road directly in front of his car. There was also a bus driving toward him on the other lane, but if he didn't swerve away, the boy would die. There was no time to think. The people on the bus were more likely to survive a collision with him compared to the more vulnerable kid. The choice was obvious.

Ichigo blacked out again.

* * *

'Captain?' Nanao asked hesitantly. It was still too early for her Captain to be up and walking through the barracks. Usually, she would have to search for him when he didn't bother to show up even by noon.

'Places to be, things to do…' was all Kyoraku offered as an explanation before he shunpo-ed in the direction of the First Division barracks.

An emergency Captain's Assembly had been called to order.

Such a thing was rare now that Soul Society was experiencing a time of peace, but the sudden reiatsu disturbance that could be felt throughout Soul Society two days ago was not a matter they could dismiss until the next meeting. Even having waited two days for the Captains who were on away assignments to get back was already dangerous enough. Kyoraku speculated that there was something else going on.

When all Captains had gathered in the Assembly Hall, Juushiro, Captain of the Thirteenth Division, reported without fanfare: 'Kurosaki Ichigo has passed, and the disturbance is suspected to be due to his arrival here.'

There was a long period of tense silence as every Captain in the room registered the information and implications of it. Kyoraku had come prepared for additional information, but not for this shocking news right off the bat.

'Where is he now?', 'Does Isshin know yet?', 'Are we inviting him here?'

Many questions shot out at once from the usually calm and collected attendees, which would have translated to outright panic among any other group. That was to be expected – they were talking about the Vizard who had gone missing eight years ago. _Their_ Vizard. Kyoraku didn't doubt for a second that the whole Gotei 13 already unofficially adopted Ichigo into their ranks, and deemed him a comrade. Just look at all the Eleventh Division jocks always clamoring after Ichigo.

'We will be informing Isshin and his family before we proceed any further. Currently, Kisuke is executing his plan to locate Ichigo in Rukongai, so whether we manage to find him or not would depend on Kisuke's abilities.' Juushiro said, being in-charge of external affairs of the Shinigami, including management of the Vizards.

'The ideal course of action would be to bring him into our ranks before something happens to him or other powers get to him. I'm sure he'd like to be with his family as well.' Sui-Feng commented.

'I wouldn't be so sure. Ichigo left after the war for a reason, and he hasn't been in contact with even his closest friends.' Kyoraku voiced. He was disappointed that Ichigo chose to leave after all that had happened, but he couldn't really blame the boy. Yes, Ichigo was still very much a child in their world of death gods – he had only lived for a fraction of time compared to all the other Captains. To have relied so much on him throughout the war was a blemish on their pride as Shinigami Captains, but they had no other choice. Ichigo was powerful and commanded great respect. He had the will and drive that drew people to him, allowing him to lead them into battle.

But Ichigo's willingness to help had cost him too much.

His family – Isshin, Karin, and Yuzu – were killed by Aizen's forces in the third year of the long and bloody war. His friends, Ishida and Chad, fell earlier in the second year when they were facing a particularly durable group of Aizen's hollow creations. Both times, Ichigo wasn't present. He was always sent to the most difficult battles right in the middle of Hueco Mundo, so much so that eventually, it became a fact that anyone being sent into battle with Ichigo had to be at least Captain-class or it was suicide.

Ichigo blamed himself for their deaths. That much was obvious to the people around him. They could see him shutting away into himself with every death of someone he knew, but they couldn't do anything about it. After the first year of war, it was already too obvious that Ichigo's power was absolutely necessary in their ranks. It was the only thing keeping Aizen from storming Seireitei and claiming victory at once.

When the war ended, Ichigo's family and friends were already in soul society where their souls were sent to, since only their human bodies perished. Isshin was reinstated as the Shiba clan head, while Ishida and Chad were offered seated roles in the Gotei 13 squads immediately. Ichigo could have chosen to stay with them, but he didn't. He didn't even so much as visit any of them despite a few requests and knowledge of where they were living.

Many of their comrades were puzzled, but Kyoraku could understand. He had been the closest to Ichigo, after all. Throughout the war, they often trained and drank together. Sometimes, during the rare lulls of the war, Kyoraku would find Ichigo lounging under the Sakura trees outside his Division's barracks. Why Ichigo seemed to find comfort in his presence, Kyoraku couldn't even begin to explain, but he had always treated Ichigo like his own son and would never refuse whatever peace Ichigo sought.

Because they spent so much time together, Kyoraku could see that avoiding the people he cherished was Ichigo's form of love and comfort. It might seem contrary to others, but Ichigo was never one for outward affection. He didn't need to spend time with people or constantly call for their affection to affirm how he felt for others. Whoever Ichigo loved, he loved whole-heartedly, regardless of what the person did or felt. This was why, just knowing that they were safe was good enough for Ichigo. It was what he had defeated Aizen for.

Ichigo could have chosen to avoid the war entirely if he just stayed out of it, but he understood that as long as Soul Society was threatened, the whole world was essentially under threat as well, since all souls were eventually brought there. The deaths of his loved-ones' human bodies were a regrettable outcome, but now that Soul Society was safe, his job was done. Now that his people were safe, he would leave until they needed him again.

'I'll be going on a long trip that would last my human lifetime. I just want to see what I fought so hard to protect – what I'll keep fighting to protect. I guess I'll next see you when I get to Soul Society. Bye, old man.' Ichigo spoke only to Kyoraku before he left.

The message was clear with his last sentence: don't try to find me.

So, Kyoraku respected his decision and kept this to himself for all these years, keeping up the pretense of occasionally searching for Ichigo along with the other squads. Everyone wanted to find him so that they could either help him or thank him (or fight him, in Kenpachi's case). It was heart-warming to see that the Shinigami were loyal to their comrades.

What Kyoraku didn't expect was for Ichigo to face such an abrupt death. He was resigned to waiting up to another century before Ichigo next appeared in front of him, but this turn of events wasn't unwelcome especially now that there was another threat looming in the horizon.

* * *

'You're dismissed.'

The Captains' Assembly concluded with four squads being placed under Kisuke's command to investigate Rukongai for the source of reiatsu disturbance, while the other Vizards monitor things in the human world. There was a chance that Ichigo's soul was stuck there and the massive reiatsu explosion was something else entirely.

As the Captains were filing out of the hall, Kyoraku was asked to stay behind with the Captain-Commander. He paused in his tracks, giving Juushiro a sidelong glance, indicating for Juushiro to exit without him.

'What do you think Ichigo will do?' The old Shinigami asked with his gravelly voice.

Although this seemed to be an innocent question from someone who was concerned about the Vizard, there was an underlying reason beyond the obvious. Yamamoto-Soutaicho wanted to evaluate if Ichigo would become a threat. The power he contained was on a whole different level, and if he decided to act on his own or join a faction opposing the Gotei 13, there would be trouble for them.

'I believe Ichigo would never bring harm to Soul Society voluntarily, but he will just do whatever he feels is right, and even I cannot predict his actions.' Kyoraku answered.

'Very well.' And that was the end of the discussion.

* * *

_What happened?_

_**You died, you moron.** _

**Shiro, I'm sure Ichigo will need some time to… adjust. Quiet down.**

_**Damn it, you old fart. We're fucking dead and you want me calm? That idiot sacrificed his human life so we're stuck here. We were havin' so much fun travelling around, dammit. Why the hell was I-** _

Ichigo cut off the mental link at that point. He couldn't deal with a raving Shiro right then.

So he was really dead. Except for the splitting headache when he just woke up, it didn't feel that bad. Perhaps he was too calm about it, but ever since learning about the existence of Soul Society, Ichigo never dwelled too much on his own death. It was as simple as being brought from one place to another. He'd heard that people lose their memories after coming to Soul Society, but Ichigo already decided that it wouldn't be a problem for him, considering his insanely high reiatsu level. Also, most of the people he knew in his life were already in Soul Society anyway.

Ichigo looked around from where he was sitting up. He was placed on a single futon at a corner of the room and there were a few other futons spread out across the area as well, but no one was around. Extending his senses out the window, Ichigo could hear the bustle of a market with the familiar shouting and haggling. This place didn't seem like any part of Soul Society he was familiar with. Maybe he should try finding someone to ask-

'Ah you're awake.' A kind-looking middle-aged lady walked into the white-washed room he was in.

'Where am I?'

'This is District One of East Rukongai. You're in one of estates that we keep to house newcomers like you. It's been two days since you were found. I must say, though, your death must have been very terrible for you to bear those scars you have. Our doctors were shocked at first, thinking you were attacked here in the first District.' She must have been talking about the scars he got during the war. On one of his raids where he had no back-up, Aizen snared him in a trapped and Ichigo was left in the mad-man's tender loving care for two months before he managed to get free. Those months were torture, both physically and mentally. He never wanted to think about it again, and most people didn't know about those scars.

Ichigo was lucky to have been dropped in the First District. It was the cleanest part of Soul Society apart from Seireitei, and this place had the nicest people and amenities. If he had been dumped in the lawless outskirts of Rukongai, he would have much harder time getting to Seireitei. Right now, he just wanted to get there first. It was the most comfortable place in this familiar yet strange world that he avoided for eight years.

'You're free to go wherever you please now. In this District, we have the policy of not prying into a person's activities and you're free to change your life however you want.'

That would work out well for Ichigo.

No doubt, if he just told any Shinigami around that he was Kurosaki Ichigo, he would be welcomed into Seireitei with open arms. However, he didn't want a whole truckload of Shinigami descending upon him, and he didn't want to go in search of his friends just yet. Ichigo knew that they all meant well and were trying to help him cope with the aftermath of the war in their own ways, but Ichigo still couldn't get past the guilt that trumped all other emotions whenever he recalls scenes of fallen soldiers, or the bodies of his dead friends and family. He couldn't face anyone yet.

Nevertheless, he would have to join the Shinigami eventually. Ichigo wasn't foolish enough to think that he could avoid them forever, and if a new threat appeared that required his power, he wouldn't hesitate to jump in.

For now, he would head to Seireitei.

* * *

The streets of Rukongai looked exactly like those out of his high school history textbook. Short attap buildings lined the streets, with vendors carrying out their activities on the ground level and children crying in their homes on the upper floors. This felt surreal. It felt like he was in a dream, or just waking up from one. The smells of Japanese street food was nostalgic and inviting, and the weather was at the perfect point of temperature and humidity. Had he had no plans, Ichigo would be lazing around somewhere to relax and cloud gaze. He could see why this might seem like Heaven.

Ichigo was walking to the prime residential area that housed their District representative where he would get information on entering Seireitei – or so he was told. He was given a map, but it was only a crude sketch and he had to stop along the way to ask for directions.

'Hey kid, where's the prime residential area?' Ichigo asked a small boy nearby who looked to be about eight years old.

'Tch. I'm not a kid! My bro's a Shinigami and he can kick everyone's ass, including yours, mister!'

Ichigo's face blanked. That mocking tone… it seems like human condescension surpasses even death. He hated dealing with annoying brats and simply walked on.

'Oi! Old man! I'm not done with you!'

 _Twack-_ 'Oomph.'

Ichigo flipped over the kid who was rushing at him. Then he simply starred down at the kid before letting go. The kid ran off.

_**Kekeke bloody boy deserved it.** _

Oops. Ichigo might have let loose a little too much of Shiro in his gaze.

'Sorry, please don't mind him. He's got too much pride after his brother became the first Shinigami in this neighborhood. The prime residential district you're looking for is just up ahead from here. You should see some signs in about fifteen minutes.' The shopkeeper who witnessed the scene helpfully provided.

'I see. Thanks.'

* * *

'You want to what?' Eito was getting old. He must have heard wrongly.

'Go to Seireitei.' Ichigo confirmed for the third time.

In all the years that he had been representative of this District, Eito had never met one so brazen.

'Look, Seireitei isn't a place you can just go prancing into at your own whim. Even I, from a minor noble house, would have to get permission just to enter the gates, much less set foot anywhere else.' Eito tried explaining to the man.

'There must be some way I can get there.' Ichigo pushed.

Eito could tell this was a stubborn man – his years of dealing with people made his intuition very reliable. It seems Ichigo wouldn't take no for an answer. He sighed.

'You can enroll in Shin'o Academy.' He finally offered, reserving the knowledge that not just any average Joe could pass the entrance exam. This guy would eventually give up when he faces his limits.

* * *

A/N:

Many thanks for reading.

Please leave a review on your way out to help me improve :)


	2. Chapter 2

Eito could tell this was a stubborn man – his years of dealing with people made his intuition very reliable. It seems Ichigo wouldn't take no for an answer. He sighed.

'You can enroll in Shin'o Academy.' He finally offered, reserving the knowledge that not just any average Joe could pass the entrance exam. This guy would eventually give up when he faces his limits.

* * *

Before Ichigo left, he was told by Eito to return the next day when a Shinigami would be present to allow him to enter Shin'o Academy.

'Oi, I heard you were bullying my brother?' Ichigo heard a voice call out as he was walking along the street. Looking at the people around him going about their usual business, Ichigo decided the voice was most likely addressing him. He turned around.

The voice belonged to a tall and lanky Shinigami with the annoying kid who jumped at him hiding behind the Shinigami's shihakushou. Predicting what the Shinigami had called him for, Ichigo was hoping he was wrong. Please, _please_ let them not have come asking for a fight. Ichigo was dressed in a plain brown yukata that was provided by the kind caretaker, and he had no sword – not even a wooden practice blade. Sure, he could probably take out this Shinigami without one, and if the situation became dire, he could manifest Zangetsu or Shiro as he wishes, but that's an extreme measure that shouldn't be used around regular citizens. He also didn't want to attract too much attention right when he just arrived.

'Well, I was-' Ichigo began to explain before he was cut off when the Shinigami attacked him without notice.

Fortunately, they kept to hand-to-hand combat and Ichigo could see that the Shinigami would be in trouble as well if he misused his Zanpakutou. A few punches and blocks later, it became obvious that neither of them were getting the upper hand.

'You're good.' The Shinigami commented as both fighters backed off.

Ichigo would have liked to return the compliment if he wasn't so desperately trying to lower his combat ability to that of his opponent, and Shiro wasn't so painfully resisting. Zangetsu, just standing still spectating, was being no help at all.

 _Whack-_ The Shinigami was hit on the head with a flying slipper. Ichigo was surprised. It gave him pause – he was hardly ever surprised in battle anymore after learning that a hollow could open a Garganta and attack his blind side. There was a nasty scar the first time that had happened during the war.

'You imbecile! How old must you be before you start thinking before you hit?' The owner of the slipper came forward with another slipper in her hand looming so threateningly above her head.

'Ahh haa… Obaa-san…' The Shinigami began sheepishly, pointing at Ichigo, 'he was fighting too…'

Ichigo scoffed. What a coward.

However, seeing the old lady's expression, Ichigo had to concede that women were scary when mad – heck, they're even scary when not. Ichigo was bracing himself for the same treatment when, on the contrary, the old lady said, 'I'm so sorry for these two kids. They've brought you a lot of trouble,' gesturing to the now subdued Shinigami and kid. Ichigo figured this old lady must be related to them somehow.

Feeling a tiny bit sorry for the duo, Ichigo decided they hadn't meant much harm and let them off the hook. 'It's nothing, I'm completely fine.'

'My grandkids are always causing me trouble, but they're essentially good kids. I hope you don't hold anything against them, sir.' The old lady regarded Ichigo before saying.

'It's really okay. I'll be on my way then.' Ichigo wanted to hurry out of there now as more and more people were crowding around for gossip content. Seeing a Shinigami stop to talk to someone was already a big enough deal, much less fight that person. Ichigo also had to head back to the shelter he came from to see if he could spend the night.

* * *

'Obaa-san, why did you treat him like that?' Kosuke asked. Even if him and his little brother were in the wrong, it was unusual for his Obaa-san to treat someone with that much respect, to the point of calling that person _sir._ That was typically reserved only for the higher ranked Shinigami. She usually treated everyone else like the child they were compared to the ancient old lady.

'He felt different, like someone who should be respected.' There was a pause as Kosuke waited for her to elaborate. 'Hmm… Call it an old lady's intuition.'

'Tch. Nii-chan would have won if you didn't interrupt. Nii-san was going easy on him at the start, right?' Hiro asked rhetorically, cutting into their conversation.

The only response was an added bruise to Hiro's head, beside the one given earlier when Kosuke found out that Hiro was the one who provoked the other man first. He should have known better than to trust his obnoxious brother.

Truthfully, Kosuke was going all out in the fight against that man, but he didn't want to disappoint Hiro like that. To Hiro, Shinigami were his heroes who could never be defeated, and that was pretty much true when pitted against a regular man.

Just who was that guy? Granted, Kosuke wasn't the best, but he was a candidate for the next seated position in the Eighth Division, which was already pretty damn good by all accounts.

* * *

The next day, Kosuke left house before breakfast. The only reason he stayed back home instead of at the Division barracks the night before, was because he was called to this District to conduct the Shin'o Academy entrance exam for someone.

On the way to Eito's residence, Kosuke spotted that orange-haired man from the day before walking in front of him, and considered stopping him to apologize. The man was dressed in the same brown yukata, and walking at a brisk pace. He was probably rushing somewhere early in the morning. Kosuke himself might have been late to his appointment if he stopped, so he eventually decided against it.

Kosuke was tailing the man for another four streets before they headed off in different directions. Man, the guy was fast. Kosuke couldn't catch up to him without shunpo even if he wanted to.

* * *

'Thank you for coming, Kosuke-san. I imagine you must be very busy with your Shinigami work.' Eito bowed and greeted him when he arrived at Eito's residence.

'No need for formalities, just call me Kosuke like how you used to, Ojii-san.' Kosuke didn't like how everyone automatically bowed to Shinigami as if they were really gods. He used to bother the townfolk and got scolded by Eito a lot as a kid, so it was plain uncomfortable having Eito regard him as such now.

'I remember you were such a sneaky brat in the past.' Eito laughed off. Kosuke backtracked on his thoughts. Maybe a little bowing and respect was fine.

'The candidate hasn't arrived yet, but he should be on the way. He only recently got to Soul Society, and yesterday was the first time I met him. I wouldn't have let him test, but he was insistent. I hope you'll just humor him and finish up quickly.' Eito explained.

'I see.' It appears that after hearing that the man only just arrived in Soul Society, neither Kosuke nor Eito expected him to pass. There wasn't enough time for his reiatsu to have developed, and he hardly had knowledge on Soul Society.

* * *

_**The tester is this guy? You'll whip his ass.** _

_Don't give me any trouble today, Shiro._

Ichigo had entered Eito's house, only to come face to face with the man who picked a fight with him the previous day.

'It's you.' Both men said at the same time.

There was a pause as they just stared at each other. Kosuke saw that Ichigo must have gotten lost on the way here for him to arrive later than Kosuke. It was probably that wrong turn when they split ways.

Eito audibly cleared his throat, which startled Kosuke out of his thoughts.

'I'm sorry for yesterday, my little brother loves playing tricks. I'm Kosuke of the Eight Division.' Kosuke introduced, as he offered out his hand to Ichigo. They started off on a bad note, but this orange-head didn't seem to mind, so he might as well be friendly first.

'I'm…' Ichigo took his hand, but was at a lost on how to introduce himself. If this man was already a Shinigami eight years ago, he would undoubtedly know of "Kurosaki Ichigo".

'It's alright, I don't have to know your name to test you. Follow me.' Kosuke said dismissively, relieving Ichigo of his mental struggle. Luckily for Ichigo, Kosuke assumed that Ichigo had forgotten his name since it happens very often for new arrivals. The memory would probably return in a few weeks.

Kosuke brought Ichigo to an empty room in the residence and let him seat himself in front of a small wooden table.

The test began.

* * *

Here he was, standing at the entrance of Shin'o Academy.

Seeing as this was the only way into Seireitei, Ichigo might as well start learning about Shinigami and Soul Society in general. He would stop running from his responsibilities as a wielder of great power. He would stop hiding. He was resigned to face whoever he met along the way, and no doubt, the Gotei 13 would find him soon. Who knows, maybe Kosuke already reported him after he brought Ichigo into Seireitei earlier that day.

The Academy looked different from how Ichigo imagined it to be. Compared a normal college, the Academy was almost ten times larger. It consisted of lecture halls and training areas that were split into different sections, and each section highlighted a certain combat form. They were set up like mock Gotei 13 barracks.

Entering the main office near the entrance of the Academy, Ichigo submitted the referral form that he got from Eito, the resident overseer of Dictrict One where he landed. A sheet of paper thrown into his hands was the only acknowledgment he got before he was ushered toward the dorms by a grumpy spectacled assistant. Maybe he came at a bad time.

As they were walking along a corridor, Ichigo spotted the Fourth Division Captain walking from one of the lecture halls in the Kido section of the Academy with Isane trailing behind the Captain. Of course, the spotting went both ways.

_**You're in deep shit now… kekeke.** _

_Thanks. You're ever so helpful._

_**Just doin' my job, King.** _

'A new student today, Rai-kun?' Unohana asked as she approached closer to where Ichigo was following the assistant. It seems his name was Rai.

Rai's expression immediately morphed from disgruntled disinterest into respectful compliance as he greeted the Captain. 'Yes, he just arrived from the first District.'

Ichigo was waiting for the moment of Eureka, when Unohana would grab him and bring him to a familiar Assembly Hall. He would get a tongue-lashing - from Karin, from Kisuke, from Kyoraku, maybe even Byakuya if he does it in a way that maintained his stoic dignity. He would get scolded for leaving all of them and worrying them. Then they'd probably hug him to death before he was conscripted into their ranks.

'Well, have fun in the Academy.' Unohana smiled, addressing Ichigo as she walked away.

...

Ichigo's brain short-circuited for a moment.

He was puzzled – more like shocked out of his mind, but he couldn't show that, could he?

_**Huh?** _

**What was that?**

It seems even Zangetsu and Shiro were confused.

No, not by the way Rai adopted a vastly different personality in front of the Captain, but because Unohana completely dismissed Ichigo as a mere Academy student. The last he checked, he was still Kurosaki Ichigo, the Vizard who fought alongside every single one of the Gotei 13 Captains at least once. He still had his mop of bright orange hair and semi-permanent scowl, so why had she not recognized him? Were they not looking for him anymore? If so, she would have at least acknowledged him since they were on pretty good terms – even though it was mostly her trying to tie him down to a bed long enough to heal him before he ran off into battle again.

'Hey, Rai? What happens if you meet someone you knew before you died?' Ichigo schooled his expression before asking his guide. Good thing he was walking behind Rai, or Rai would've seen it the moment Ichigo stood stunned.

'What? Nothing, of course. Most wouldn't even remember.' Rai replied in a tone that suggested the question was beneath him and walked on, 'and my name is Raido. Address me appropriately.' Great. The first person Ichigo met here had a stick up his ass. 'It would be Kuchiki-san to you.' Raido finished.

Ah. That explains it. He was probably some cousin of the great Byakuya, epitome of stoicism. The dismissive tone suggested no more conversation would be tolerated as they continued to the dorms.

When Ichigo was shown to his room, he was instructed to fill in his name for each class roster indicated in the schedule given to him. This lax form of registration made sense since it was almost impossible to conduct an identity check in Soul Society, and a few people even completely forget their names when they arrive. Ichigo could be anyone he wanted to be.

Instead of immediately settling in his room, Ichigo used the map of the Academy that was provided in his room to look for the library. He needed some answers. He had to know what happened earlier with the Captain.

* * *

'It's been a week and you still haven't found Ichigo?' Yoruichi knew her genius childhood friend was against the idea of dragging Ichigo into Shinigami affairs once again, but this was too much.

'I assure you, it isn't from the lack of trying. I just can't locate him. He's learned how to hide his reiatsu signature too well.' Kisuke pointedly turned to stare at Yoruichi from under his bucket hat. 'I wonder who was the one who taught him…'

Kisuke and Yoruichi were discussing matters in the study allocated to Kisuke for his stay in Soul Society. Kisuke had already been working round the clock for the past week, and he was beyond frustrated. It would have been so much easier if only they knew the exact location of the reiatsu source, but it was so massive and widespread that they couldn't pinpoint it to any district. All they had to go on now was that it originated somewhere in the East.

Ignoring Kisuke jibe, Yoruichi wondered aloud, 'how can not a single person notice a bright orange-head around Soul Society?'

Adding to the initial four squads, all Divisions already had their Shinigami patrolling the whole of Soul Society off and on, in hopes of spotting the young Vizard.

'The thing is, I doubt we'll recognize him even if we saw him. This case is unprecedented because Ichigo is the only human turned Shinigami while he was still living. His reiatsu is on obscene levels so passing into death wouldn't have affected him in the least. Because of that, this world would have given him some sort of protective shield of anonymity so that people who knew him before wouldn't know it was him even if he was right in front of their faces. He'd still look the same, but if he doesn't introduce himself as "Kurosaki Ichigo", no one would ever tie his soul to the person they knew before he died.' Kisuke sighed.

'I'll update you on anything I hear.' Yoruichi said before getting up from where she was perched on the armrest of Kisuke's chair, and leaving the office. She could see that Kisuke was close to the point of giving up and didn't want to bother him. For all his genius, he was fragile when it came to his pride.

* * *

'Kai! You trounced everyone in the practice hall again!' Hoshi exclaimed as he ran up to Ichigo and clapped him on his back. Maybe Ichigo went overboard during the sparring session the first years had before lunch just now…

After doing his research and experimenting with his convenient anonymity here in Soul Society, Ichigo decided to go by the name of Kai – short for Kaien – as a sort of tribute to the ancestor he respected. It was unexpected, but if he had the chance to avoid being found out, he would take it.

It has been two weeks since class started. Ichigo entered mid-semester, so he had a lot of catching up to do on written schoolwork and had been busy throughout the month. The practical lessons that were based on the four Shinigami combat forms: Hakuda, Hohou, Kido, and Zanjutsu, were a breeze for the Vizard.

Yoruichi had taught Ichigo how to suppress his massive reiatsu a year into the war, when more covert operations were required. Ichigo put this knowledge to use, permanently suppressing ninety-nine percent of his reiatsu, leaving only one percent for use in the Academy. As it was, even one percent was overkill, and Ichigo managed to top all his classes within the time he was here. No wonder the unseated Shinigami were so useless during the war. Granted, Ichigo wasn't naturally good at certain combat forms like Kido, but when comparing a war veteran like him to fledging Academy students (first years to boot)? The outcome was obvious.

A week into classes, Ichigo found that most of the students in the Academy avoided him. He didn't belong to the faction of students from noble families, but nobody dared to bully him as 'Rukongai trash' after seeing his display of skill. Even those from Rukongai left him alone when it was obvious he received better treatment from the teachers and other students compared to them. Ichigo's frigid attitude toward people he didn't know also didn't help things. No matter, their treatment didn't bother him in the least. He was used to being an outcast from young.

The room allocated to Ichigo was a single room so he didn't have the need to talk to anyone outside of classes. A good thing too, since Ichigo was a rather private person and preferred having his own space. He was also usually brooding at night – thinking about the war, his family, his friends, his hometown, and everything he didn't want to think about when the sun was up and sky was bright. These days, he hardly slept more than a few hours each night.

The only person who constantly bothered to talk to Ichigo was Hoshi. The guy had a slight build with messy dark blue hair, matching blue eyes, and looked a tad awkward in the kosode and hakama that was their Academy uniform. As far as Ichigo knew, he was from one of the minor noble families living under the protection of another family in Seireitei. Like Ichigo, he didn't really fit in anywhere – not noble enough, but not scrub enough. He had entered the Academy at the start of the year and was in a few of Ichigo's classes, where Ichigo heard he was being bullied prior to Ichigo's arrival. If Hoshi could avoid that by sticking to Ichigo since most students avoided _him,_ Ichigo wouldn't deprive Hoshi of that.

Hoshi was a chatterbox, which suited Ichigo just fine. Hoshi would talk and Ichigo would listen. Ichigo found that he could learn a lot about Soul Society culture and on-goings through that.

After two weeks, Ichigo's teachers had taken notice of him and discussed sending him into final year classes next semester, but he would have to make up for the years he skipped by doing apprenticeship coursework. This means that he'd be tagging along with an attached teaching assistant of the Gotei 13 and be doing some easy Shinigami work with an actual squad for the remainder of the semester.

This offer couldn't have come at a better time, just when Ichigo was getting bored out of his mind during classes. In the free time he had, he usually holed himself up in the library reading Soul Society history and whatever he found interesting in this world, but classes were a total bore. Honestly, there wasn't anything the Academy teachers could teach him anymore. He could defeat all of them with both eyes closed _and_ bothhands tied behind his back.

Right now, he was just waiting for lunch to be over, and he would be shown to his attachment officer.

* * *

'This is Kuchiki Raido. He has been helping out at the Academy frequently as an ambassador of the Sixth Division, and you'll be attached to him for your advancement course.' Ichigo's Zanjutsu instructor, and the Head of the department, introduced in Raido's small office at the Academy.

Great. Ichigo was stuck with this Kuchiki.

Both Ichigo and Raido stared each other down as the Zanjutsu Head was leaving after finishing with his business.

'It's you.' Raido initiated in monotone, acknowledging their first meeting when Ichigo enrolled.

'It's me.' Ichigo affirmed. Was this going to be how all his meetings with Shinigami went? Ichigo was thinking back to when he met his first Shinigami in Disctrict One.

'You must have quite the potential for you to be skipping straight to final year. If I'm not wrong, this would be a record.'

'Well, go big or go home, right?'

'You seem to have quite the smart mouth as well. Let me just establish that working in a squad will not be easy regardless of your ability or intellect, even if you'll be doing menial tasks. The Sixth Division, especially, is very strict when it comes to conduct and discipline. We expect all our officers to uphold respect and dignity.'

'I know.'

Raido raised one eyebrow, looking doubtful that a mere Academy student like Ichigo could possibly understand.

'You will be following me at all times from Wednesdays to Saturdays, even when I'm bunking in the barracks. You will do whatever you're instructed to by me, or any other Sixth Division officer. Monday and Tuesday will be for your Academy lessons. You're free to do what you like on Sundays. You start tomorrow.' Having said this, Raido turned down to look at the sheets of paper on his desk, indicating a clear dismissal.

What an uptight ass.

* * *

At dinner that day, students of all years swarmed Ichigo.

'Hey, you're attached to the Sixth Division?', 'Who's the officer you're attached to?', 'Have you met Kuchiki-Taichou? He's so great!', 'Can we go over to visit you at the barracks?'

How did news spread so fast? And what happened to pretending Ichigo didn't exist in the Academy?

Three minutes of this, and Ichigo was ready to blow his top. 'Seriously, it's no big deal. I'll just be doing Shinigami shit for a while under Byakuya's orders. Piss off.'

Silence.

Ichigo found that everyone around him was staring at him as if he was some alien species.

'No big deal? Most Academy students don't get to see Shinigami officers unless the officers come to the Academy, and many Shinigami officers don't even have the chance to directly meet their Captain unless they stay at Headquarters. Also, it is said that some Captains don't even get to meet Kurosaki Ichigo directly. He stands at the top of the top!

'Even as a student, you'll be so much closer to the heroes from now, man! It's a bloody big deal!' Hoshi eagerly supplied upon seeing that Ichigo was so blind to the social hierarchy of Shinigami.

'Kurosaki Ichigo…?' Ichigo was flustered. As a substitute Shinigami, he hadn't expected to be known by more than just the Captains he usually talked to and worked with. Apparently, things change after eight years. They also became highly exaggerated. It was true, though, that the Captains don't get to meet him, but not in the way that Hoshi was suggesting.

'He's our war hero! He single-handedly saved us by kicking Aizen's ass in the Arrancar Invasion. How can you not know? If you're in the Academy, you must have been in Soul Society for a long enough time to know the history before you can manage to pass the qualification test.'

'Uh… right.' Ichigo vaguely remembered Kosuke conducting a series of tests with him before handing him the referral letter, but they were all too easy and inconsequential, so he didn't take much notice. He now recalled there were some questions on the Gotei 13 Divisions and hollow properties – all of which he already knew.

'I guess I'll let you know if I see anyone famous.' Ichigo addressed Hoshi absentmindedly, his thoughts dancing with questions.

'Get their autographs!' Hoshi shouted behind him as Ichigo was leaving the canteen and other silent students behind.

* * *

The past few weeks hadn't been easy for Kisuke. When Ichigo first died, Kisuke was only searching half-heartedly because he knew that if Ichigo wanted to be found, he would. He respected Ichigo's decision.

However, since then, he had received one troubling news after another, and most of the Shinigami's covert resources where spent looking for the Vizard. The Gotei 13 couldn't carry out the search in the open anymore because there were powers opposing them in Soul Society, but only the top brass knew of this situation as this wasn't common knowledge yet. It was imperative that they find Ichigo before anyone else.

The search was focused in East Rukongai, but interviewing the residents there undercover was very time consuming. Unfortunately, they also found out that there were many citizens and new entrants with bright colored hair, ranging from blonde to dark red. Just asking around for an orange-haired man wasn't working. Kisuke had to find some other way.

Kisuke was now shunpo-ing across Seireitei to the Captains' Assembly Hall. Having been napping after his bout of sleep deprivation, he was late.

'Urahara Kisuke, how nice of you to join us.' Yamamoto-Soutaichou admonished sardonically as Kisuke entered.

'I was… busy,' was all Kisuke offered as he stood in line beside Juushiro. The Captains came to a unanimous decision to include Kisuke in all their meetings when it was obvious he could prove to be helpful.

'Any news yet?' Yoruichi directed the question to Kisuke.

A shake of his head was all the answer they received.

'All Divisions are to keep up your searches. That will be all for this matter.' Yamamoto-Soutaichou decided. A tap of his cane on the wooden floor indicated for them to move on to the next topic.

'There is a promising student attached to the Sixth Division now. He excelled at all of his practical classes, and has caught up with the written work despite enrolling mid-semester. I was thinking of promoting him to final year next semester, based on the results of his attachment.' Juushiro, as Acting Head of the Academy, reported.

'His name is Kai. He is to accompany Raido, my fourteenth seat, for the rest of the year. I will properly examine him when he starts tomorrow.' Byakuya supplied.

This subject piqued all the Captain's interest. Talent such as this was exceedingly rare, the last being their very own Hitsugaya-Taichou, and it would be a huge bolster to their forces. This boy had to have genuine talent for Juushiro to deem important enough to add to the meeting agenda. They would all remember the boy now, and would no doubt be vying to have him on their own squad when his graduation came.

'Which family is he from?' Sui-Feng asked.

'Definitely none of the noble families. He was referred to the Academy by the representative of East Rukongai Dictrict One. Could you do a brief background check?' Juushiro directed to Sui-Feng. It was important for them to understand the sources of any power. If this student's loyalty lay elsewhere, he might turn into a threat that will rip them apart from within.

'There is another one that looks promising. He's the top student of the final year, set to graduate by the end of this year, but he has shown interest in joining the Onmitsukido when he graduates.' Only Yoruichi perked up at this. To join the Onmitsukido meant that he couldn't join the Gotei 13. Only the Commander-in-Chief of Onmitsukido typically accepted Captaincy in the Gotei 13 as well, and that was usually the Shihoin Clan-Head.

As the meeting continued, Kisuke was distractedly thinking about his investigation and completely dismissed the talk of Academy students. What were they compared to Ichigo? Finding Ichigo was worth more than a thousand students graduating.

If Kisuke had listened, however, his genius would have led him to notice the relation between this new talented student and the source of reiatsu disturbance.

* * *

'Kai, you're late,' was the first thing that greeted Ichigo at the entrance of the Sixth Division barracks.

For Kami's sake, it was just one minute late, and that was only because the place was so huge that Ichigo had to circle one round before reaching the entrance.

'Oi, Rai! Show us the kid!' Ichigo heard a familiar voice shout.

Instinct made him freeze as the sound of footsteps approached behind him, and he momentarily forgot about the convenient anonymity bestowed upon him when he died. It wasn't that he didn't want to meet his friends, but being around any of them brought up memories and guilt that he didn't want to face even after eight years.

'Kai, greet Abarai-Fukutaichou.' Raido instructed.

'Nice to meet you, Ren- Abarai-Fukutaichou.' Ichigo robotically followed as he collected his wits.

Renji caught the slip, but didn't comment. This was an Academy student. He could afford to be magnanimous.

'Why don't you show us what they're teaching you at the Academy these days? Hey, guys! Gather up!' Renji raised his voice to get the attention of the Shinigami training in the field by the entrance.

'Wha- Are you sure?' Ichigo questioned hesitantly. Knowing Renji, he probably wanted to show newcomers like Ichigo his place by flaunting the strength of experienced Shinigami in the squad. This was definitely not going to go well. One glance, and an experienced fighter like Renji would be able to tell that "Kai" was no mere Academy student. "Kai" was obviously accustomed to fighting.

Just then, 'good morning, Kuchiki-Taichou!' was heard ringing out as the Sixth Division Shinigami turned to bow and greet their Captain when he walked in from the entrance.

Noticing the commotion, Byakuya walked over to the scene, and to Ichigo's dismay, he decided to stay and watch the spar. Every officer who newly arrived also joined the crowd. It seems everyone was interested in the abilities of the new genius from the Academy.

Things just got worse for Ichigo.

What to do…?

_**Just trash 'em all.** _

Heck, Ichigo decided to take Shiro's advice, giving in to his rash instinctive drive. He wasn't exactly hiding anyway. He'd just deal with whatever comes after.

'The kid's scared! He's muttering under his breath!', 'Go easy on the kid, man.', 'Try not to exert him. We want him walking by the end of the day.', 'Just use the back of your Zanpakutou.'

Ichigo was getting riled up by the comments around him and almost didn't realize when he was handed a practice Zanpakutou. First years weren't allowed to hold their own Zanpakutou yet, so for the period of the attachment, Raido borrowed one for him. Of course, no one knew he already had one and could manifest it anytime.

* * *

'Match… Start!'

Ichigo stood in a relaxed stance, mirroring that of his opponent. While his opponent was doing it because he was underestimating the student, Ichigo's stance was different. His was relaxed, but in a way that allowed no gaps in his defense. It was the stance of a fighter confident in his abilities, who was accustomed to battles, and Byakuya saw this minute difference immediately. Was this what they taught in the Academy?

A dash, a kick, a throw, was all it took for Ichigo to disarm his opponent without even drawing his blade, and it happened in the blink of an eye.

Ichigo had never been one to hold back even in friendly matches. At first, it was because it took his all to simply keep up with his opponents when he first trained to save Rukia. As time went on and he improved, the war began. It became natural to cut down opponents before they could attack – kill or be killed.

The taunting stopped.

* * *

A/N:

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review on your way out.


	3. Chapter 3

A dash, a kick, a throw, was all it took for Ichigo to disarm his opponent without even drawing his blade, and it happened in the blink of an eye.

Ichigo had never been one to hold back even in friendly matches. At first, it was because it took his all to simply keep up with his opponents when he first trained to save Rukia. As time went on and he improved, the war began. It just became natural to cut down opponents before they could attack – kill or be killed.

The taunting stopped.

* * *

Eight opponents for Ichigo and eight whole defeats for the Sixth Division later, Renji was getting increasingly frustrated and decided to step in himself. He'd trained his men, damn it. No Academy kid was going to show them up no matter how talented he was.

As his men were making way for him into the ring, he could see the student's discomfort. That's right, squirm. Renji would show him his place.

Just as he was about to step into the human-made ring, he felt a hand on his shoulder. All conversations in the field ceased as if a silent switch had been turned on.

'That's enough.' Byakuya announced, loud enough for everyone gathered around the ring to hear. 'Get back to work.'

What? The Captain was just going to leave it at that? Why?

Renji was perplexed.

'Abarai.' Byakuya called as he turned to look back at the unmoving Renji on the way to the office they shared, indicating for him to follow.

Renji moved obediently.

As the fervor died down and the Shinigami dispersed on their Captain's order, Ichigo felt relief, but also slight disappointment. A spar against Renji would have been troublesome, but it would've been so much fun compared to the people he sparred with lately. Shiro was also being agreeable for once, so consequences be damned.

But it appears a decent fight would have to wait.

* * *

Raido had brought Ichigo to his office in the Division barracks after the altercation in the morning. He hadn't talked to Ichigo since he directed Ichigo to a small seat with a table at the side. At this rate, it would be even more boring for Ichigo here than being at the Academy.

Couldn't Ichigo have been attached to someone else? Someone from the Eleventh Division would have been nice – they were a lively bunch and would've provided Ichigo with some entertainment. Sadly, every Shinigami knew that the Eleventh would never take on Academy assignments.

Wasn't Ichigo supposed to be doing something? Ichigo was surreptitiously glancing at Raido every few minutes.

'You are to go on a courier mission. Bring this over to the Eighth Division.' Raido commanded as he handed Ichigo a stack of papers from his seat without even looking at the student. It seems Ichigo wasn't hiding his impatience as well as he thought. Yoruichi would have been disappointed with his performance in covert operation.

Ichigo sighed. Having a mission might sound exciting and all, but it looks like he was going to be delivery boy for a while.

* * *

Byakuya and Renji had been working silently in the office for the past hour. They had extra paperwork to handle as the Gotei 13 was planning to send the Vizards over from the Human World to Seireitei in order to strengthen their forces, and all Divisions had to report on the most appropriate way to assimilate the Vizards into their ranks. They also had assignments from the Academy to deal with, ranging from student field trips in the Human World, to individual cases like Kai who had to be attached to a squad member.

The Academy Heads apparently loved working with the Sixth Division since Byakuya always responded cordially and positively. Some Captains like Mayuri of the Twelfth Division found interacting with Academy teachers beneath him, while others like Juushiro and Toshiro were always too busy with other assignments. The lazy ones like Kyoraku or Zaraki were out of the question.

'Why did you stop me?' Renji broke the silence. He wasn't questioning his Captain, but Renji was curious. Byakuya had always turned a blind eye to friendly sparring among officers in the past, so Byakuya stopping a fight was unprecedented.

'Would you have won?' Byakuya countered.

At that, Renji paused. Back then, he had been so sure he would win because he was facing a mere Academy student. However, if he took away their respective titles of Vice-Captain and Student to see things objectively, he could appreciate that the kid was strong.

But stronger than him…?

'Based on what I saw, you would only have won if you had released your Zanpakutou. In a fair fight, you stand no chance.'

Ouch. That really hurt, coming from his own Captain.

'The kid was that good?'

'That was no _kid._ ' Byakuya admonished his Vice-Captain. He could see that Kai had the disposition of a fighter, showing no fear or hesitation. His movements were fluid and controlled, like he could manipulate every fiber of his muscle. He was lethal, plain and simple. Byakuya even suspected that he might already be able to release his Zanpakutou, but he would reserve that knowledge for now. He didn't have as much experience as the other Captains to know for sure. The student's gaze seemed so jaded when it met with Byakuya's for a split second. There was pain and sorrow, but also strength and determination, so much like-

Byakuya's thoughts got muddled.

What was it?

He couldn't grasp his previous train of thought. Thinking further only brought him back to his gut feeling that the student was something different.

'I want him to participate in our up-coming joint exercise with the Eighth Division.' Byakuya eventually decided.

'Yes, sir.' Renji complied.

* * *

Ichigo couldn't say for sure what it was about this place that he found so peaceful and comforting. Perhaps it was because of that tinge of alcoholic scent pervading the air, or maybe it was because the environment had been imbued with the characteristics of the Captain governing the place. The man was lazy and laid-back, but once you find an ally in him, he would be fiercely loyal and protective, much like Ichigo himself. Unlike what his usual demeanor suggested, Kyoraku was also one of the more perceptive Captains, able to see through obvious incongruences and superficial lies. Outward appearances never mattered to him, and Ichigo always had to be genuine in front of the seemingly flamboyant and careless man.

The administrative office that was Ichigo's objective was somewhere close to the entrance, if he recalled correctly. It wasn't past noon yet, so hopefully Ichigo wouldn't have to meet anyone he knew – more specifically, that certain lazy-bum.

'Hey, what are you doing here? There should be classes at the Academy today.' Someone shouted to Ichigo from across the training grounds as Ichigo was walking to the offices. It was unusual for Academy students to be walking around Division barracks, and having nothing else to wear, Ichigo was still in his Academy uniform which was a clear badge of a student.

'I'm just running an errand for the Sixth Division.' Ichigo informed the man.

Seeing that it was Kosuke who jogged up to him, Ichigo recalled Kosuke introducing himself as a member of the Eighth Division.

' _You're_ that genius kid?' Almost every Shinigami in the squads had already heard of a new genius on par with Hitsugaya-Taichou either through friends in the Academy or their Captain's idle talk. Kosuke was expecting someone big and tall like his Captain, or someone with noticeably strong reiatsu like Hitsugaya-Taichou – not this man whom he would have passed off as insignificant at first glance. Kosuke was so ready to trash him back in Rukongai when they first met.

'I guess.' Ichigo shrugged.

'I didn't expect that. It's only been a few weeks, hasn't it? Honestly, I didn't even expect you to pass the entrance test. You should've seen Eito-jii's expression when you left and I told him you passed.' Kosuke was grinning at his own private recollection.

Relieved at seeing a somewhat familiar face even if it was the guy he almost beat up, Ichigo passed on the stack of papers to Kosuke before walking back toward the entrance. Raido didn't say exactly who it had to be given to, and the addressee's name was probably on the papers anyway.

'I haven't gotten your name yet.' Kosuke raised his voice slightly for Ichigo to hear.

'Call me Kai.'

* * *

From the Captain's office, Kyoraku had a clear view of the training grounds from the side window. Usually, he would have been lounging on the windowsill at the back of the office as he appreciated the view of sakura trees much more than sweaty men training, but Nanao was right below that window talking to one of the officers.

Kyoraku didn't want to be seen slacking off – for obvious reasons – especially since he had already been dragged out of bed early because they had more paperwork than usual. An annoyed Nanao was cute, but an angry Nanao was scary. If Nanao caught him at the side window, he could say that he was monitoring the morning training, but he had no excuse for watching sakura flowers blossom at the back.

Because of that, while drinking his morning sake and perched on the windowsill at the side, he'd noticed an interesting scene that caught his attention.

At first, he only took notice because there was an obvious lone figure moving away from the training grounds toward the office. Then, he saw that the object of Kosuke's attention was an Academy student. The last time he'd seen one in the Shinigami Division barracks, the student was dying in the Fourth Division's after being attacked by a hollow while on a field trip.

The previous time was… the same thing. In short, he saw students walking around the area alone as often as he looked up at Toshiro – never. Kyoraku concluded that this Academy student was the one Juushiro mentioned during the Captains' meeting, that new genius. If he was here, maybe Byakuya dumped some weird assignment on him. Something along the lines of 'go and respectfully greet all the Captains' or the like – typical of the noble.

Kosuke seemed to know the student, judging from his friendly grin and conversation, but seeing that it was pretty much one-sided, Kyoraku had to wonder what their relationship was like. The student seemed rather cold.

All that had happened so far couldn't count as being that much out of the ordinary – having a genius student around was like that. What was surprising enough to make Kyoraku put away his sake came after this.

As the student was leaving the barracks, he walked directly across the training grounds instead of using the path from the offices to the entrance. A member of the Division ran toward him, presumably to tell him off for putting himself in danger by crossing a field with sharp objects flying around.

Just before the Shinigami's hand reached the student's shoulder, the student whirled around to face him. The movement would have been too fast for any ordinary Shinigami to catch, but Kyoraku clearly saw what had happened: Had there been a Zanpakutou strapped to the student's side, the blade would have been drawn and cut cleanly through the throat of the approaching Shinigami to give a quick and painless death, before being sheathed again in one smooth motion. To the Shinigami there, it probably only looked like the student was shocked and turned around. Kyoraku tensed, preparing to spring to action should anything further happened.

Kyoraku's guess was confirmed when the Shinigami, ignorant of what could have happened, hollered at the student to chase him out of the barracks.

Contrary to what Kyoraku expected, the student readily apologized and walked off stiffly, as if he was disturbed by his own prior actions.

Kyoraku smiled. He had found something interesting.

* * *

**Ichigo…**

_I know, I know._

Ichigo made a mistake. He'd flipped out.

He was on his way out of the Eighth Division barracks, but crossing the familiar training grounds had distracted him. He was thinking about all the time he'd spent there with Kyoraku when he was still weak and powerless. Kyoraku always beat him down unceremoniously every single time they fought – this was before his powers developed enough for them to need to spar in the mountainous region surrounding Rukongai for fear of their reiatsu hurting others. The Shinigami who gathered to watch always laughed at him, disregarding the fact that Ichigo could kick their collective asses. 'Kyoraku-Taichou represents us,' was their illogical excuse, but they were nice enough to treat Ichigo to sake every time he lost. 'Sake cures all,' they explained, as expected of those from Kyoraku's Division.

Seeing the many unfamiliar faces on the training grounds now hit home the fact that so many people Ichigo knew had died in the war. There were so many he couldn't save – so many he _could_ have saved had he been just a little stronger or just a little faster. He'd mentally beaten himself up so many times over the years that this had become his mantra.

When Ichigo was jolted out of his somber thoughts by an unfamiliar reiatsu that had come close to him, he reacted on pure survival instinct. The only saving grace he had then was that he hadn't thought to bring the Zanpakutou with him. Ichigo would have been incarcerated or given the death sentence if he had, because that Shinigami would have surely died – Ichigo's skill ensured that. Ichigo almost killed someone innocent.

He had been careless. Just because no one could recognize him now, he took things for granted and got away with brandishing some of his strength. He'd thought that after eight years of peace, he would already stop imagining that he was on the battlefield.

How wrong he was.

Just the brief memory of the war had distracted Ichigo so much that his old habits returned. He was right to have wanted to escape everything.

Ichigo returned to the Sixth Division barracks deathly pale and quiet – not that Raido would have notice the difference since they hardly had any conversation. It took an entire day of focusing on Zangetsu's calming words and Shiro's steady presence for Ichigo to fully return to normal.

It's alright, nothing happened. He wouldn't let anything like that ever happen again.

There and then, Ichigo resolved to only take out the Zanpakutou he received when it came time for training.

* * *

Four days into his attachment and it became obvious that Ichigo would be doing nothing more than simple delivery work or copying of letters, even though it was packaged nicely as "courier mission" and "document transcribing". Ichigo almost laughed at that.

He was _so bored._

Ichigo would have appreciated Hoshi's presence amidst the silent treatment Raido was giving him, and even Byakuya's presence would have been welcome compared to this icicle that was Raido. He was the coldest person Ichigo had ever met, even for a Kuchiki.

Two words. _Two words._

All that came out of Raido's mouth while they worked in the day was when he said good bye. Actually, goodbye was just one word, wasn't it? The morning greeting was always just a simple nod of acknowledging Ichigo's presence when Ichigo entered the office.

Even when Raido was giving Ichigo an assignment, he would either hand Ichigo a sheet of paper with instructions, or Ichigo would ask 'copy?', and he'd nod. Being a seated officer, Raido didn't even have to go for the compulsory training each day, so there was no outdoor activity for Ichigo. The man seemed to be inclined to do deskwork all the time. It could be because of this attachment, but Ichigo doubted it.

Being attached to Raido meant that Ichigo had to bunk with him as well. They shared a spacious room in the barracks with two other Shinigami, and Ichigo was given the bed above Raido's. The room had two desks for doing work and an attached bathroom. The décor was bland – plain white like the walls of the building – and the only belongings the occupants had were stored in their personal wardrobe.

It didn't make sense that Academy students had better rooming conditions than full-fledged Shinigami, but everything was decided by the Captain. Byakuya wanted better "cooperation and bonding", but Ichigo doubted that the noble who had friends the likes of Yoruichi and Kisuke since young understood normal relationships and behaviour. As if forcing people to room together would do any good, Ichigo mentally mocked. A weekly drinking session or even a simple meal would have been appreciated more instead of squeezing them into rooms.

After conducting their Shinigami duties the whole day, everyone usually just crashed and slept while they were in their rooms. The only communication was for asking to use the bathroom or the desk. They were each closer and more comfortable conversing with their squad members in the day whom they trusted and fought with, compared to people they only shared living space with.

Everyone probably felt the same, but Renji wouldn't have wanted to risk his hide explaining to Byakuya. He would have been Bankai-ed away into the next life – wherever that was – if he made a wrong move. As Fukutaichou, he would get his own room anyway, that bastard.

Ichigo was insanely glad that the next day was a Sunday. He needed a break from just sitting in a silent office the whole day. He didn't have any plans or things to do, but he figured that either light training or reading a book would be way better.

'Rai.' There was a knock on the office door before it swung open to reveal Renji calling the occupant.

Ichigo mentally rolled his eyes. Typical. Renji didn't even wait to be called in.

**You can hardly be the one faulting him for that, Ichigo.**

Zangetsu was right. Ichigo wouldn't even have bothered to knock.

'You'll be in the training exercise next week. Bring the student along too.' Renji passed some papers to Raido, completely dismissing Ichigo's presence. A small, childish part of Ichigo was so annoyed.

'Yes, sir.' Raido said before Renji left the room.

Ichigo had no idea what made this training exercise so special that Raido had to be specifically told by their Fukutaichou to join, but Raido would probably only tell him when they get to it next week. No point asking.

* * *

Bright and early on a Sunday, Ichigo was already walking along the streets of Seireitei. He was avoiding Shinigami as much as he could, so the route he took was through the lower residential area of Seireitei, separate from where the nobles stayed.

Satisfied with his breakfast of mackerel and miso earlier that morning, Ichigo had left the barracks just as his roommates were preparing for work. The Sixth Division had two different shifts – one with Sundays off, and one with Wednesdays off. His roommates got Wednesdays off, while him and Raido had Sundays off.

Even though it was still early, Raido was nowhere to be seen when Ichigo got up. He was always awake before Ichigo, and it seems off days were no different. There was no sleep-in Sundays for him, unlike the other Shinigami who were not on duty.

Was the guy even human? Never mind, scratch that thought. Raido was a Shinigami through and through. He might even be taking overtime work.

Academy students were given a small allowance each week. Ichigo had yet to use any since he enrolled as he always ate in school or at the barrack's canteen, and he never needed to buy anything. Deciding that he would need some material to keep himself from dying of boredom for the next few weeks, Ichigo set off to look for a bookstore.

* * *

'Juushiro~ I found something interesting.' As much as Juushiro loved Kyoraku like a brother, it just brought on a headache whenever Kyoraku got like this. Kyoraku never let go of anything he found interesting, until he completely picked it apart to understand it before putting it back together. There was that one time they were still at the Academy when Kyoraku had to sweep the whole courtyard because he was busy studying children's games played in Rukongai and neglected his schoolwork. Yama-jii was beyond furious. Kyoraku was lucky he only had to do some sweeping. Push it just a little further, and Kyoraku would have been made to bunk with their sadistic Kido teacher who loved to shove unsuspecting students into the Hollow Arena they used to have, just to test their barrier abilities.

Since that was probably how Kyoraku's Shikai ability developed, Juushiro thought the whole situation didn't end too badly overall.

Kyoraku's obsession now was an entirely different matter, however.

For the past few days, Kyoraku had been poking around the Thirteenth Division barracks calling for Juushiro, claiming he had something to show to the other Captain. He would then end up simply grinning like a fool and saying that he'd get whatever it was soon, before leaving, only to return a few hours later when Nanao was distracted enough for him to repeat the process. What the hell he even meant, Juushiro didn't want to find out. Juushiro was hoping this _interesting thing_ would just keel over and die already, so that he could have his peace again – not that the kind Captain would ever verbally express those vulgar thoughts.

Juushiro had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment, like the fact that they had found a potential lead to locate Ichigo. Out of all the reports that came in sighting an orange-haired male in Rukongai, there was one particularly interesting encounter where a Shinigami was involved. The problem was, all the reports on the same encounter were vastly different. Some claimed the Shinigami killed the man, while others said that the man beat the Shinigami. Some even stated that the man was actually a Shinigami himself, and a duel took place.

Juushiro would have to send someone out again to obtain more detailed and reliable accounts, but this was already better than nothing.

Kisuke had pretty much given up on using the Shinigami network and had closed himself up in a lab to tinker with some device a few days earlier.

'Come on, Juushiro. Shinji and the rest just arrived in Seireitei yesterday, so I invited him for a drink for old times' sake. Let's go.' Juushiro's headache was back again, both figuratively and literally.

_Of course,_ Kyoraku wouldn't think of leaving Juushiro out of this get-together, even if Juushiro had a thousand and one better things to do and would much rather be the Avatar to unite all four nations – and be killed in the process – than _drink._ It was still morning, for Kami's sake.

Ignoring Juushiro's feeble protest because yes, Juushiro was weak-willed when it came to Kyoraku, Kyoraku nabbed his best friend from the barracks right under the noses of the whole Division.

Well, it wasn't like anyone was in a position to stop him anyway.

The only one who could, had his haori pulled from the back, with his arms flailing comically in the air.

So much for Captains maintaining their dignity.

* * *

Ichigo had found a gem. The precious bookstore he came across after walking around the market district for half an hour contained both ancient scrolls and more modern paperbacks bound with string. There were even some novels with illustration on one of the shelves.

Talking to the bookstore owner, Ichigo learned that some of the works were brought in from the Human World, while most of them were written by authors who had died and came to Soul Society. The best part about this was that there wouldn't be an abrupt ending to a good series, or incomplete works left behind by talented authors. The authors all stayed well and alive here.

It took some time, but Ichigo eventually picked out two books and a scroll to bring back. Soul Society had their own unique form of currency which was the Kan. It was easy enough for anyone to understand and use, and Ichigo had brought more than enough with him.

Leaving the store with his loot, Ichigo decided to walk around the area since he had nothing better to do. The thought of visiting the Shiba household crossed his mind for a moment – he did miss his family – but he dismissed it almost immediately. Tempting as it was, his reluctance to engage in anything related to the war still prevailed. It was fine as it was so long as everyone was settled and happy.

'KAI!' Ichigo heard someone shout among the crowd that was growing with each shift in the position of the Sun. After only a few weeks, Ichigo had adapted quite well to his new name, and could respond naturally to it.

'Over here!' There was an arm extending out of the sea of heads and waving at him.

Reaching the source of the hailing, Ichigo found Hoshi with a group of people he didn't know. They were crowded around a takoyaki store, all dressed in casual yukata and sandaled footwear.

'How've you been? We haven't seen each other for days!' Hoshi exclaimed before he introduced the other people as Shin'o Academy students in their second year. Hoshi knew them from the connections between minor noble houses, and he explained to Ichigo that they would always hang out together on their days off. Today was their so-called "takoyaki day", where they would eat only takoyaki throughout the day after being deprived of their collective favorite dish during the Academy days when they ate at the canteen.

Ichigo was glad that Hoshi still had people to be around when Ichigo wasn't at the Academy. It made him feel less guilty about leaving Hoshi in their classes alone even though it was bound to happen sooner or later, with Ichigo being promoted so quickly.

Seeing Hoshi bubbling with excitement and eagerness for Ichigo's tales of adventure with the Shinigami squads, Ichigo relayed everything he'd gone through the past few days without any reservation. He couldn't deny those innocent dole eyes that reminded him of Keigo, his highschool friend. The other students also listened with rapt attention although there wasn't much to Ichigo's story.

* * *

'So, you need new clothes?' Hoshi asked.

After they talked about the Shinigami and Ichigo patiently answered every question while noting individual requests for autographs, he noticed that his attire was still the Academy uniform. Aside from that, his wardrobe was completely bare.

Yes, Ichigo assessed. He did need new clothes.

Decided, the whole group brought Ichigo to an affordable clothing store that they knew of. Why the whole group had to come along with him instead of just pointing him in the right direction, Ichigo couldn't understand, but he didn't stop them since they only were helping him.

Like him, they probably had nothing better to do. That was how it was with full-time students.

A quick glance around the store and Ichigo immediately picked out a white shitagi with a plain black kosode and black hakama. The combination was an imitation of the Shinigami shihakushou, but he was comfortable in dark colors. Since he was an Academy student, no one could chide him for being a Shinigami wannabe anyway.

The group left the store with each carrying a small bag of their goods. The other students bought their own set of clothing as well.

By the time they reached the next takoyaki stand, it was already slightly past noon and Ichigo wanted to bail out after lunch to head to his room at Shin'o Academy to do some reading.

Instead of going in the direction of the Academy, however, the older students were leading him in the opposite direction, toward a quieter market district. Evidently, they had others plans that Ichigo had automatically become a part of.

Well, hanging out with them for a while more couldn't hurt. Ichigo's eight years of relative solitude made him comfortable with being alone, but it wasn't like he would reject company when it was presented to him.

* * *

A bar.

The students had brought him to a bar.

Ichigo wondered if they were even allowed inside when he realised that all students in the Academy were most likely older than him. He had to kick the habit of thinking of them as if they were students in the Human World.

Entering the humble abode, Ichigo registered that the bar was cozy and dimly lit, with only about five tables and a single light source in the center illuminating the room.

It was early in the afternoon so there weren't many patrons around. The group ignored other on-goings in this place meant for privacy, and chose a table close to the counter. There was a clear line of sight to the only other occupants of the bar from where Ichigo was seated. After ordering drinks, Ichigo finally looked more closely at the group of Shinigami at the corner nursing their own drinks, with empty glasses scattered on their table. They had been there for quite a while, it seems.

But, they weren't just any random group of Shinigami.

_Damn. Right here? At this time?_

There was Kyoraku. And Juushiro. And Shinji. And… what the hell was Byakuya, of all people, doing drinking?

Ichigo cursed his own luck.

* * *

A/N:

Thank you for reading this chapter, and please leave a review on your way out. It's how I improve :D


	4. Chapter 4

There was Kyoraku. And Juushiro. And Shinji. And… what the hell was Byakuya, of all people, doing drinking?

Ichigo cursed his own luck.

* * *

On the way to meet Shinji, Kyoraku and Juushiro walked past the Kuchiki residences and came across Byakuya who was returning from his grave visit. Ever so friendly, Kyoraku had invited Byakuya along for their small get-together. Juushiro expected the noble to reject, because when had anyone ever seen Byakuya _drink,_ but to his utter surprise and Kyoraku's elation, the noble followed along.

The bar they headed to was in the market district of Seiretei that housed the upper-middle class merchants, so the area was relatively quiet compared to the bustling main market district that was always filled with people. By walking through the nobles' residential area and a short stretch of the main market district, the bar could be reached directly from the Shinigami district where all the Divisions' barracks were.

The bar was also open through the day to accommodate the different Shinigami shifts – though Juushiro suspected that Kyoraku had a hand in this.

With these features, it was one of the more popular bars among the Shinigami for them to avoid the citizens' prying eyes while they enjoyed a break, since spotting a Shinigami on the streets outside of the Shinigami district always drew curious glances, and on occasion, even some stalking.

Already, there were people staring at the group of Captains the moment they set foot in the market district. It was an extraordinarily rare sight to see so many powerful figures of the Gotei 13 all at once, and it didn't help that all of them were the more popular Captains. Byakuya alone had quite the number of fans, receiving a mountain of letters and small trinkets every week. Already, Juushiro could see that many merchants and hagglers were leaving the stalls to catch a glimpse of the awe-inspiring figures of Soul Society up-close.

Just shunpo-ing to the bar would have allowed them to avoid all the attention they were receiving, but Kyoraku had insisted on taking a stroll.

As usual, Juushiro was blackmailed into following.

Through the centuries they had been friends, Kyoraku had amassed a horde of Juushiro's weaknesses in his pocket – a very big pocket – and didn't have any reservations on using them against his best friend to get what he wanted. Juushiro would have liked to think they were on even standing since he had known Kyoraku for as long as Kyoraku had known him, but only Kyoraku was ever shameless enough to barge into the bathroom while Juushiro was showering to see-

Or go through Juushiro's wardrobe to find-

Or flip through Juushiro's diary to read-

Juushiro had no choice but to concede defeat on this front.

As the three Captains drew closer to the bar, Juushiro could anticipate his headache getting worse. On a good day, Shinji and Byakuya could pretend the other didn't exist. On a bad day, however, an earthquake would shake Soul Society. The two never agreed on anything, and centuries old Captains and ex-Captains could be downright _childish_.

Sure enough, when they entered the bar to find Shinji already seated, there were only two seats left at the table – the others had obviously been carelessly kicked aside. Shinji must have detected their reiatsu signatures approaching and decided he only wanted two drinking companions that day.

'You can sit using that stick up your ass.' Shinji sniggered with that shit-eating grin plastered on his face. The comment was obviously directed at the Kuchiki noble.

Ignoring the Vizard's teasing, Byakuya grabbed a nearby chair and ordered drinks for the table. Releasing the breath that he hadn't realized he was holding, Juushiro thanked Kami that one of them, at least, has decided to be mature.

Somehow, Juushiro felt like he was baby-sitting three grown men – two of whom were part of the upper echelon of Gotei 13 that was essentially their government, and one more who held as much power and influence.

Maybe the world was about to end. Did pigs fly yesterday?

Just as Byakuya was about to take his seat, Shinji kicked out the chair from under him before proceeding to bark out in laughter upon getting the reaction he wanted. Byakuya's eye was visibly twitching.

Scratch that. This wasn't baby-sitting. Babies would have been infinitely better because, at least they could be easily tied up. Kami knows Juushiro couldn't do that with this lot – it would require at least four of him, plus the levelling of a whole District or two.

Juushiro was poised to intervene when Byakuya took a calming breath to reign in his annoyance, resisting the urge to petulantly kick back. He simply brought forward another chair.

Juushiro felt like a proud mother wanting to clap and coo at him as a reward.

Good thing there was no other patron in the bar as witness, or their image as the steadfast, powerful protectors of Soul Society would have crumbled to dust – before being mixed in fertilizer and trampled by cows, then maybe used as the fecal grounds of houseflies. Having Shinigami act like juveniles were already a common sight for the workers of the bar who dealt with the drunk lot on a daily basis, so no worries there.

* * *

Although Byakuya had always regarded Shinji with contempt before, he was prepared to treat the other man across him cordially today.

His impression of the blonde Vizard changed after the war.

One day, when Ichigo had returned a day early from one of his raids in between battles, he stopped Byakuya in the Division barracks and brought in a small wooden shrine, the size of a football. The rest of the Division was out transferring supplies, so Ichigo set it down right in the middle of the empty field and pulled Byakuya down to sit beside him.

From his demeanor, it was obvious that Ichigo wasn't ready to explain, so Byakuya kept silent.

They stayed like that, just staring across field and savoring the gentle breeze for what seemed like hours, before Ichigo started talking.

He told Byakuya about his mother and his life with her when she had been alive.

Ichigo had been a meek boy, always running to his mother whenever he was frightened, which happened so very often. She never pushed him away or forced him to man up, even after Karin and Yuzu were born. His mother was gentle and kind, always telling Ichigo to help others when he could.

The curry she always cooked had been horrible for as long as Ichigo could remember, but she always cooked it anyway. It somehow tasted different each time it was served and Ichigo grew used to the ever-changing taste. It was like having life in a meal – sometimes you get it good, but sometimes you just had to endure the bad.

When she tucked him into bed, she would playfully pinch his nose twice. Always twice – never more, never less.

There was one night when she only gently pinched his nose once before leaving the room, and Ichigo insisted on getting out of bed to get the other pinch, only to walk into the kitchen to find that she had prepared his favorite dessert for supper. That day was when he had first entered the Karate Dojo and came back home crying. Ichigo asked her why he was rewarded for crying, and Masaki told him that the reward was for staying at the dojo throughout even though it was tough and he was scared.

There was another night when there was no affectionate pinch before he went to bed. Blurry-eyed, Ichigo got out of the bed and went in search of his mother, only to see his father sitting quietly in the dark living room with his face in his hands. That was when the memory of that afternoon hit him.

It was the night she had died.

That same night, Ichigo started building this small wooden shrine that began with just one nail – the nail he found by the riverbank where he last saw his mother.

Every time he thought of his mother, he would add a piece to the shrine. Adding piece by piece to it, it now looked almost complete, albeit with clumsy workmanship.

Holding up the little disfigured shrine from where he sat, Ichigo added a piece of black cloth that he abruptly ripped from his shihakushou to the roof of the shrine, to cover the wooden structure.

'It's complete now.' Ichigo said as he handed it to Byakuya, offering it to him.

Byakuya just stared at Ichigo, stupefied.

'What?'

Ichigo smirked in amusement at Byakuya's confusion and explained, 'You Shinigami are Death Gods. Humans pray to you to grant them safe passage into the afterlives, and souls pray to you for everlasting protection. So then, who do you pray to?

'This shrine I built is like my god. I pray when I'm scared, or tired, or sad, or angry, because I had no one to run to anymore.'

'I'm sharing it with you now. Pass it on to whoever needs it most, but use it for yourself first.'

Byakuya was at a loss for words.

'Shinji was using it first, you know, but he told me there was someone else who needed it more. Shinji adopted all the Vizards as his family, and he's the only one they can rely on.

'For you, it's the whole Kuchiki clan relying on you. Compared to other noble families, your clan places an even greater burden on the Clan-Head, don't they?'

Byakuya was about to protest, but Ichigo continued, 'It's because you let them, Byakuya. Because you _want_ to let them. Shinji said you'll need this.' The shrine was thrust into his hands.

This private conversation with Ichigo took place during the third year of the war when tensions were escalating as hollows were on the verge of entering Soul Society. Everyone was panicking, because the sanctuary that had kept them safe for the past thousands of years was suddenly under threat. Day after day, the citizens were pleading for mercy, begging the Shinigami to protect them, and the nobles were adamant to having Shinigami guards posted by their homes.

Everyone was worried about the lives of their family and friends.

It was the scariest thing to ever have happened because they had no other place to escape to.

Anyonein Soul Society could die.

His _Division_.

His _Clan._

That day was the only time throughout the period of the war when Byakuya broke down.

No one was around to see – Ichigo had already left – so Byakuya sat in front of the small shrine and prayed.

He kept praying until his Division returned.

Eventually getting up, Byakuya looked at the shrine. _What about you, Ichigo? You've adopted the whole of Soul Society._ The words were heavily lodged at the back of his throat.

* * *

Withdrawing from his memory, Byakuya impassively glanced at Shinji when he felt the blond Vizard lightly kicking on the leg of the chair he was in. Regardless of what had happened, it didn't mean the Vizard wasn't still childish and impudent.

Shinji couldn't help it. The noble was so much fun to rile.

While waiting for their round of drinks to arrive, Kyoraku and Shinji began to talk about everything under the Sun – things from centuries past to current on-goings in their world. Byakura had been listening silently throughout, while Juushiro inserted comments whenever appropriate. Before they knew it, several hours had passed.

The next round of drinks arrived just as someone brought up Ichigo, and the server was visibly unnerved to find the four powerful figures of Soul Society so stone-faced while broaching the topic.

They all had a soft spot for Ichigo. He'd saved them in more ways than one.

'Still haven't found 'im?' The question Shinji posed was somewhat rhetorical since Kisuke would surely have told him if they had already found Ichigo, but the Captains shook their heads anyway.

There was a weighty pause after that question as each man's thoughts dwelled on the orange-haired Vizard for a while, before there was an unspoken decision to move on to another more light-hearted topic.

'How has the student been under your Division?' Juushiro asked Byakuya. He hadn't been keeping track of the student's progress because he had been busy with other things, but as overseer of the Academy, Juushiro wanted to know, at least, if the student was adapting well to the squads.

Kyoraku visibly perked up at the mention of this student.

'He's doing fine under Raido. I'm putting him in for the training exercise next week. He has some skill.' To Byakuya, he had more than just _some_ skill, but he didn't think anyone would believe him yet, so he would bring the student in front of another Captain. At this comment, Kyoraku's eyes twinkled speculatively as he assessed the noble, and Juushiro noticed his friend's expression. Something unexpected always came out of that.

'Speaking of which,' Byakuya continued, 'we haven't decided on the program for the joint training yet.' He turned to Kyoraku.

Kyoraku pretended to consider this for a moment before answering, but he had already decided the moment he found out the student would be joining.

'Let's do a ranking contest between our Divisions.'

* * *

The contest would be straight-forward. Each Division had twenty people taking part in the joint exercise, and they would be given ranks from one to twenty based on their seats and combat prowess. Starting from the lowest ranked, both Division's Shinigami would fight their way through to the upper ranks. When they lost, the next lowest ranking person would take over to represent the Division. This would continue until there was a battle with a Captain, the highest ranked, on one side.

Of course, aside from the contest, there would be joint training in between conducted by the Captains themselves.

Byakuya had to agree that this method sounded effective. It played on the competitive nature of Shingami while keeping it as a somewhat fair battle in terms of strength – each differently ranked Shinigami would be fighting someone around the same level.

There was an unspoken agreement between the two Divisions to send in their top twenty seats since no one side would want to face defeat even in a training exercise - they had their pride as Shinigami, but Byakuya had to consider the student, who was supposedly the weakest of all Shinigami...

Studying the older Captain, Byakuya sensed not a shred of deceit or cunning. Kyoraku had always been a fair Captain, embracing loss if it was deserved. So why have a contest with the student in it? It wouldn't be fair. Does that mean the other Captain knew something about this student? Did he also see what Byakuya saw?

This new addition to his Division was the reason why Byakuya followed the two older Shinigami to the bar in the first place. He wanted to discuss if there was a possibility of someone gaining fighting experience in Soul Society without any formal training. Byakuya wasn't referring to the street brawls that were commonplace in the outskirts of Rukongai, but more refined sword techniques and reiatsu control. Upon noticing that Kyoraku seemed to have an interest in the student, however, Byakuya decided to leave the matter to develop on its own.

For all that he had been taught and trained in politics, the mind games Kyoraku and Kisuke sometimes played were beyond him, so Byakuya promptly agreed to the contest. One would only end up utterly spent trying to pit their minds against the flamboyant Captain. His Division could only gain from something like this regardless of the outcome, anyway. He had nothing to lose.

* * *

The soft bell on the door of the bar sounded, signaling new entrants.

Lo and behold, it was the subject of their conversation who entered with a group of his friends. No one seemed to notice the group of Captains at first, but being the only other occupants of the bar, they were seen by the students shortly after they settled down.

It was a group of four students, and three of them had expressions of obvious excitement on their faces upon seeing the objects of their worship, while the other one looked almost sullen. There was some shuffling and whispered conversation among the group before they got up from their table and hesitantly approached the group of Captains.

Their nervousness was almost palpable – except for the one guy who just looked badly constipated with a scowl on his face.

'Good afternoon, Kyoraku-Taichou, Ukitake-Taichou, K-Kuchiki-Taichou, Hirako-dono.', Hoshi, acting as the group's representative, nervously greeted the Captains and Vizard in order of seniority.

'Hello, care to join us? We haven't talked to Academy students for a long time now.' Kyoraku warmly invited.

Of all Captains of the Gotei 13, Ichigo just _had_ to come across this lot of the most observant and astute ones.

Someone up there must hate him.

Since when had the Captains ever been interested in Academy students?

When they had first noticed the Captains, Ichigo prayed for both groups of men to just ignore each other.

When it became evident that it couldn't possibly happen with such ardent fans of the Captains in his group, Ichigo was hoping that they would be left to their own devices after Hoshi and the rest got the autographs and talk-time they desired. However, if he had been that lucky, he wouldn't have met the Captains here in the first place.

Someone up there definitely hated him.

The other students were so stunned into stupefied silence that Ichigo had to drag over tables and chairs for their group and nudge them all into their seats, seeing as they weren't going to just leave after a Captain had welcomed them. One of Hoshi's friends was so awestruck that he tripped while getting into his chair, and Shinji was huffing with amusement at the side.

Noting their relocation, the server brought their drinks to them while they settled at the table, and there was a round of introductions for the Captains who didn't know the names of the individual students.

The Captains were a sight for sore eyes. Ichigo had already interacted with Byakuya, albeit briefly, but he hadn't yet seen the others ever since he left the Shinigami eight years ago. Kyoraku looked exactly the same, with his trademark straw hat and flowered kimono in place, while Juushiro looked slightly less ill and his hair appeared to be a little shorter than when Ichigo had last seen him. Shinji was always Shinji, with that cheshire smile on his face.

_**The blonde one looks like he's got more wrinkles.** _

_No, he's just smiling wider than usual. Probably did something to Byakuya._

_**Gah. I thought if he smiled any wider his face would'a turned inside out.** _

Ichigo was sorely tempted to ask why Shinji had come to Soul Society, but that would only invite questions about his own origin, since the location of the Vizards' base wasn't common knowledge yet even though they had become a household name on par with the Gotei 13.

Ichigo wistfully recalled the last time all five of them had been gathered together. It was during the dinner they shared with all the other Captains, Vice-Captains, and Vizards after the last War Council that had marked the end of the long war.

_Let's eat together again like this when Toshiro grows taller._

_What the hell, why me?_

_Because you're the midget, it'll take a long time before it happens. Kami knows I don't want to see all your ugly mugs that often._

_Kenpachi just casually insulted everyone present._

_The vein on Toshiro's head bulged. Brawling and verbal insults ensued, but the message was clear among the comrades who survived the war: all of us must live on together._

Ichigo died as a human, but he broke the promise long ago, when he had left them all to defend Soul Society without him. He wondered if things could still be the same. Perhaps Toshiro was finally taller now?

'Y'know, Kai is really awesome! I bet he'll be Captain in just a few centuries!' The mention of his name shook Ichigo out of his reminiscing and musing. A few centuries? Ichigo mentally scoffed. He could be Captain now if he wanted to.

After getting more comfortable with the older men at the table, Hoshi was back to his chatterbox ways and was telling his heroes about Academy life, so Ichigo could sit back and stay distracted with his thoughts.

'And Sirs, Kai totally beat up the Rukongai punks who were trying to recruit him on the first day. It was hilarious when they walked into the dorms with their faces vandalized.' The other students were laughing while the Captains smiled obligingly.

'If I remember correctly, Kai was from East Rukongai's first District, right? How long had you been there before you entered the Academy?' This was the first question a Captain directly posed to the students.

'About two months.' Ichigo replied, looking anywhere but at Juushiro, who had asked the question. From what Hoshi told him before, arriving for only two days prior to taking the test was very abnormal. He had to lie.

Kyoraku scrutinized Kai. He could see at once that the student wasn't telling the truth. Kai must be the honest type since he was so obviously bad at lying. With the lie, however, the perceptive Captain could infer so much more than from an honest statement. His interest was piqued further.

'Since you're slated to graduate early, is there any particular Division you're interested in?' Kyoraku asked Kai.

Ichigo hadn't really considered his placement in the Divisions yet, so he took some time to seriously consider.

'Not the Second, Fourth, or Twelfth.' Ichigo decided firmly.

'I see. So that means you might join the Eighth?' Kyoraku pressed.

'I guess.'

The other occupants of the table studied the two men while they were conversing. Juushiro could understand why any Captain would be interested in this student. He didn't seem to display outward subservience in front of them like the other students, but his demeanor included quiet respect that didn't involve the usual bowing or groveling. Unlike other Academy students, he also spoke with them on equal terms without additional honorifics, but it didn't sound rude coming from him. This was a refreshing difference from the usual interactions they have had with students and even other Shinigami over the past century.

The puzzling thing was why Kyoraku seemed so interested in the boy. It was different from the attentiveness he showed toward other promising students whom he wanted to recruit into his Division – most of them were girls, but that's not the point here. Kyoraku was obviously up to something, and that was worrying.

Juushiro would have to keep an eye on things just to make sure the student didn't experience anything too unpleasant.

'It doesn't have to be just the Eighth even if you eliminate those three Divisions, does it? You would be welcome in the Sixth as well.' Byakuya interjected when it became clear that Kyoraku was trying to poach this talent for himself.

Grey eyes and brown eyes locked for a good long minute.

The two Captains' gazes were forced apart when the entering of more patrons in the bar indicated that it was close to happy-hour late in the afternoon, and the students had to leave to finish up some schoolwork before classes the next day.

As they gathered their belongings before thanking the Captains and vacating their seats, Kyoraku firmly pulled Ichigo back into his.

'Who are you?' The Captain asked one last question, looking directly into the eyes of the student beside him.

Not knowing quite what to say since they had all already been introduced a while ago, Ichigo simply offered, 'You can call me Kai…' He stared back into the eyes of the Captain.

'I know, but that's not what I'm asking.' Kyoraku rejected that response enigmatically as he released his grip on Ichigo's forearm, seemingly having found whatever he was looking for in Ichigo's gaze.

'You students should be on your way now.' Juushiro intervened, seeing his friend's almost fanatical absorption in the student. He nudged Kyoraku gently to divert his attention, but Kyoraku was still staring after the group of students as they left the bar. More accurately, he was staring at the one who called himself "Kai".

* * *

After the students had left, Kyoraku and Shinji remained behind long after Juushiro and Byakuya returned to their barracks.

'What's with that kid?' Shinji immediately asked. He had noticed Kyoraku's single-minded focus on that particular student, and also some peculiarities of the boy himself. Since Kyoraku didn't seem willing to talk about it in front of the other two Captains, Shinji had waited until the annoyances left.

That orange-haired student was an interesting one. From the moment he noticed the Captains, Shinji could see that he so obviously wanted to bail when other students would have given an arm or leg to be in his place.

When the student was shifting around the chairs for his group, Shinji very discreetly stuck out a leg here, and an arm there, and even pushed the chairs and glasses around to subtly get in the student's way. Shinji had been trying to make things difficult for the boy just to see him uneasy, and any normal student would have tripped while they wondered why they were being so clumsy that day. Even the Captains seated around the table hadn't noticed what Shinji was doing as they were focused on the students.

The orange-head neatly evaded all of Shinji's six attempts. _Six._ It took only four to land Kensei on his muscular ass the first time Shinji had tried it on him.

Just to make sure it wasn't his skill that had dulled, Shinji tried it on a different student when they were settling around the table, and the student stumbled spectacularly into his seat. Shinji almost gave himself away by laughing.

So it wasn't Shinji's skill.

Shinji couldn't tell if the student had known, or if it was honed instinct which helped him avoid danger, or if it was just dumb luck.

His curiosity piqued, Shinji was studying just that one student throughout the whole conversation and his gaze lingered on the boy even as their group was leaving. It was then that he realized the orange-head didn't have presence. He was clearly _there,_ but his reiatsu was muted and his footsteps were inaudible – the movement of a seasoned hunter in enemy territory.

There was definitely something going on with this student. The last he remembered, Shin'o Academy only churned out by-the-book incompetent idiots.

Kyoraku evidently knew something the other two Captains didn't.

'Hmm…' Playing drunk to avoid talking wouldn't work on Shinji, so Kyoraku was contemplating on the amount of information he should share with the Vizard.

'Don't give me shit, alright? I already saw that he had better reflexes than a student should have, and he moved too quietly for any normal Shinigami.'

Kyoraku smiled. That was the reason why he always consulted Shinji before anyone else in the past whenever he was eyeing a new member for his Division – the man could read people like a book. Unlike Kisuke, though, Shinji never bothered to practice his skill in manipulating people around him, which was how he had gained Kyoraku's trust.

Deciding that there was no harm telling Shinji everything about Kai, Kyoraku recounted what he saw. He wanted to get Shinji's opinion, anyway.

* * *

Ichigo returning to the Academy after his stint in the Division made him something of a hero.

The students refused to leave him alone, and he was even accosted in the bathroom – never mind that he sneaked out of his room to shower in the middle of the night.

Everyone wanted his Captain's signature, or wanted him to introduce them to a certain Shinigami, or wanted him to teach them what he did during trainings, or-

Ichigo was so tempted to escape using shunpo as he saw another student approach, but his was not at a level that an Academy student could casually pull off.

He had leftover takoyaki from the Sunday takoyaki spree, so he even considered throwing the takoyaki away from him and dramatically shouting 'fetch!' to divert their attention, if students came too close.

Who was he kidding? That kind of absurd scenario only ever happened in mangas.

Although…

There was once during the war, when Ichigo was having lunch with Kenpachi in the desert of Heuco Mundo. It was just after they had finished their raid together and were coming off from the high of exertion in battle. Their bodies still craving action, the meal became a competition to see who could catch the dried meat with their mouths after it was thrown into the air – the game kids always played. They had started in a cross-legged sitting position, but between two highly athletic men, it quickly intensified into movement of their entire bodies. The whole thing ended when Ichigo threw a piece away from him as hard as he could – it flew a good few kilometers – and Kenpachi ran after it, only for him to run into a group of hollows.

Good times.

On top of having his attachment with the Sixth Division, the rumor of his "closed-door meeting with Shinigami Captains" made things even worse.

Ichigo was sure Hoshi and his group of friends had only innocently spread about their chance encounter with the Captains in the bar, but the story had been exaggerated more and more with each student it went through. As of now, Ichigo had supposedly been part of a secret organization that involved high-ranking Shinigami, and they had met to secure their blood oath. How the hell had Ichigo become the main subject when Hoshi and the rest were also there?

He sighed. Hopefully, this would all die down soon.

It was Tuesday morning, and all students were told to gather at the courtyard in their respective year groups. Whenever the Academy had an announcement for all students, it was conducted in this manner.

'Good morning. Today, we'll be introducing guest instructors for the Academy who will be with us for an undefined period of time. I'm sure all of you will be very excited to meet them.' Juushiro announced once he walked up the podium from behind the wall divider.

The murmuring began.

Although Juushiro was the overall Head of Shin'o Academy, he more often had to take care of Shinigami business, leaving most matters for the other Academy Section Heads to deal with.

Since he rarely made an appearance at the Academy, his presence today meant that these new instructors were important people. The whole courtyard was vibrating with the excitement of the students.

'They are people you should know quite well. I'll let them speak for themselves.' Juushiro continued, once the initial squealing he had inspired upon his entrance had died down.

Four figures walked up to the center of the podium as Juushiro stepped aside, and the level of excitement doubled when the students recognized the individuals.

Ichigo was speechless.

Why would these people be here at the Academy? No way were they simply instructors.

Something smelled fishy… but it could have just been Hoshi's breath from beside him.

'Yo! Kai!' Ichigo was forced out of his thoughts when Shinji waved to him from the podium.


	5. Chapter 5

Why would these people be here at the Academy?

No way were they just instructors.

Something else was going on…

'Yo! Kai!' Ichigo was forced out of his thoughts when Shinji spotted him from the podium.

* * *

'We'll be having a fucking battle royale.'

'I _said_ running at each other like brutes isn't training at all.'

'So wimpy hiding is training?'

'Someone has to educate this beast.'

'Beasts eat tiny little ninjas like you for breakfast.'

At that week's Captains' Assembly, the Captains were to announce the manner in which their joint exercises would be carried out.

Whoever got the idea of putting the Second Division together with the Eleventh Division must have been a genius – if their goal had been to tear apart the Gotei 13.

'Enough of this. Your Divisions will be issued a standard training regimen if you cannot come up with one that both will agree on.' Yamamoto-Soutaichou finally had enough of the bickering. 'Move on.'

Interestingly, the Third and Ninth Division were going on an expedition to the Human World while the Tenth and Twelfth Division were going on an expedition to the outskirts of Rukongai.

'We'll be doing it like the Sixth and Eighth Division.' Juushiro announced on behalf of the Seventh and Thirteenth Division. Hearing Kyoraku's suggestion, Juushiro took to the idea of the contest and had already discussed it with the other Captain.

The Fourth and Fifth Division would have to wait until the next round of joint training for their turn – they still needed Shinigami for patrolling Soul Society and the Human World.

'Let us move on to the matter of Kurosaki Ichigo.' Yamamoto-Soutaichou commanded.

Taking his cue, Juushiro elaborated on the investigation thus far.

'Exactly which district was this specific sighting in?' Sui-Feng asked.

'East Rukongai, District One.'

Juushiro wondered if, like him, the other Captains were drawing a link to the new genius of Shin'o Academy, so he proceeded to explain further.

After speaking to Kosuke of the Eighth Division who was the Shinigami found to be involved, Juushiro found out that the dispute that had taken place was a misunderstanding, and the other party was none other than Kai himself, the genius student. Since that was the case, it couldn't possibly be related to Ichigo because Kai had already been in the district for two months before the incident took place. At that time, Ichigo would still have been somewhere alive in the Human World.

The expectant glint in the eyes of most other Captains dimmed at this revelation. _Most_ other Captains, because Kyoraku just looked plainly happy.

'Well, Kisuke has been working on a device he claims would be able to detect Ichigo's unique reiatsu signature.' Yoruichi added, trying to keep the mood positive.

'I just need more time before it's done.' Kisuke confirmed.

'Very well. Keep up your work.' Another tap of the cane by Yamamoto-Soutaichou, and the Captains moved on to discuss about the Vizards.

Only four of them had been brought to Soul Society while the others were to remain in the Human World to keep an eye on things – it wouldn't do to so suddenly extract their vital presence from the Human World. After all, they had been the ones to expertly manoeuvre the Shinigami assigned to the Human World for the past few years, and had personally taken down the more powerful hollows.

The Vizards who were brought into Soul Society were to act as an independent squad whose services could be called upon by any of the Divisions whenever required. They were given accommodation in Shin'o Academy and outwardly introduced as guest instructors because their addition to the Gotei 13's forces had to be hidden. Their opponents would no doubt view the Vizards' presence as a threat. With this arrangement, however, they would be seen as harmless visitors to Soul Society.

'They were just introduced to the students earlier today…' Juushiro started, and was considering whether or not to report Shinji's unusual attentiveness toward a certain student.

Right from the start, Shinji had called out Kai in front of the whole student body without even bothering to introduce himself. Then he proceeded to announce that he was going to be instructor of the first-years when the Academy Heads hadn't even decided their posting yet. It could have been easily passed off as one of Shinji's quirks, if he hadn't then walked right up to Kai and stayed beside the student for the entire duration of the introductions.

'They were very well received by the students. Our published statement on their invaluable help during the war against Aizen has gained them quite the number of ardent supporters.' Juushiro finished, deciding against snitching on Shinji, because really, who would stop him anyway?

* * *

Surprising even Shiro and Zangetsu, Ichigo had found himself sorely missing the Sixth Division barracks by the time school was out.

Even though he hadn't been doing much in the Division, Ichigo realised that he much preferred the company of Shinigami compared to Academy students. The students around him were all so… brittle. They had such guileless mentalities that it was obvious none of them had ever seen real battle where their lives were put at risk.

A life-threatening experience changes a person. It was evident in the way truly competent Shinigami could assess an opponent's strength accurately and would concede to a loss amicably instead of jumping into battle. Budding young Academy students took their talent and powers for granted, puffing up with every praise they receive from superiors, not even judging for themselves if the superior was worthy of their high regard.

There was also the obvious need to escape from Shinji's accosting throughout the day.

Because the new instructors didn't have any assignment yet, Shinji had free reign to idle around the school, terrorising the students he came across – not that they would have realized it was him doing it, the sneaky bastard. It just so happened that Ichigo was wherever Shinji chose to idle. _Surely_ it was a coincidence, because Shinji always made a perfectly sound excuse for being wherever he was, but Ichigo would have to be dumb enough to ask Yachiru for help with his math homework if he believed that.

Clearly, no normal person would willingly lounge at the back of a classroom with lessons on-going. Shinji had tutted audibly at almost everything the instructor said, and the instructor's complexion only got increasingly pale as time went on.

It would seem Shinji wasn't stopping at terrorising just students.

The only good thing that came out of it was that students now stayed far away from Ichigo when it became evident that he was the subject of Shinji's attention.

Ichigo's only refuge was his room, which was where he went for a tactical retreat – he wasn't _hiding._

He would have to report in to Raido the next day, so he was free to do what he liked for the rest of the night.

He brought out his books and hunkered down on his bed, glad to enjoy his peace while it lasted.

* * *

The Sixth Division barracks was packed with Shinigami milling about in preparation for the joint exercise. Both the Sixth and Eighth Divisions' Shinigami were setting up benches and transferring provisions around the field, so Ichigo had to weave his way through to the offices to look for Raido.

On the way there, Ichigo was jolted by a sense of unease that he was being watched and tried to pinpoint the source among the large crowd. Looking around, his eyes locked onto a very familiar figure across the field who was staring directly at him.

'ICHI-', the man hollered, and Ichigo's eyes widened in recognition before the word was even complete.

In a desperate rush of shunpo while praying that all other Shinigami were kept sufficiently busy enough to have noticed, Ichigo barrelled into the man to clamp down on his mouth before anything else came out of it.

'Oyaji.' Ichigo acknowledged the spiky haired man. It seems whatever anonymity he had didn't work against familial bond.


	6. Chapter 6

Ichigo's glare had kept Isshin quiet all the way until they reached the Captain's office – the only place Ichigo could know for sure would be empty as both Captain and Vice-Captain had to be on hand to oversee the preparations.

After the door was shut behind the two Shinigami, the silence was so thick that you could almost cut it like knife through butter.

Isshin's and Ichigo's relationship had always been less like father-and-son and more like brothers-with-a-petty-feud, but Ichigo was comfortable with it. He had always been closer to his mother, and it was obvious that Isshin was much better at dealing with the girls. Everything worked out and Ichigo was happy as long as Isshin could be a proper father to his sisters.

Ichigo did plan on eventually seeing his family, but not in this way and not at this time. He also didn't expect that the anonymity which had worked so well with everyone else was, in front of this man, as useful as Toshiro trying to jump to grow taller – completely useless.

While Ichigo was just standing still not knowing what to say for past few minutes, Isshin had been studying his son. Ichigo had grown taller into the man he was now, shedding that last bit of teenage awkwardness he used to have. After eight years, Ichigo was now just slightly shorter than Isshin.

'Have you been well?' Isshin broke the silence with an uncharacteristic solemn tone.

Ichigo looked up at his father, but what he saw was overlapped with the image he had of Isshin's dead body from the war. It had been a gigai, but it looked so deathly pale and bloody that it just _had_ to be real. Only a human body could have bone sticking out the flesh like that, or have its limbs bent at that awkward angle.

'Ichigo…' Isshin gently urged, coaxing him out of gloomy thoughts.

In their conversation, the two hesitantly broached safer topics first, like how Ichigo was avoiding recognition, how Karin and Yuzu were faring, whether Kukaku was still abusing Ganju, and the like, but they both knew that wasn't what was most important.

'When are you coming back?' Isshin finally confronted the elephant in the room.

It was unfair for his family to have to deal with his melancholy and miss him for eight whole years, but Ichigo wasn't ready to go back yet. He was also having more fun than he'd had in years – which was saying a lot – despite his difficult position in Soul Society.

'I-'

'Only return to us when you're ready.' Isshin interjected as he stepped closer to place both hands on Ichigo's shoulders. 'Karin and Yuzu would want that too.'

His goat-face of a father might seem flippant and carefree most of the time, but Isshin could be highly perceptive when he was serious – it was how he even made Captaincy – and Ichigo was so glad for it. It would have been so difficult trying to explain how he felt.

'Just don't make us wait too long or Karin might get rebellious and marry that chibi of a Captain before you can stop them.' Isshin's voice was getting louder and firmer.

Karin and Toshiro wanted to _what?_ Ichigo's thoughts were thrown off track.

'Oh Masakiiiii~ They're all growing up without us.' Isshin belted out as he dramatically whipped out a small photograph he kept in his shihakushou and rubbed it against his face.

First thing's first, he had to deal with this goat-face of a Clan Head.

Isshin was unceremoniously booted out of the window of the office like an oversized rag doll before Ichigo reappeared on the training field looking slightly murderous.

Yes, Karin was old enough by now and could choose whoever she wanted to be with. She could be with a cat-women like Yoruichi for all he cared, but it felt like Ichigo was obligated to pull the big brother act and be irrationally offensive toward her chosen partner, whoever it may be.

Dwelling on this thought, Ichigo was sulking throughout the entire opening ceremony that marked the start of the joint exercise.

* * *

Isshin had been invited by Kyoraku to join the Eighth Division's training whenever he wanted to, since the Shiba Clan Head had been taken off active duty when he declared that he only wanted to spend his time taking care of his daughters.

After Isshin heard about the joint exercise, he had come to spectate because he wanted to gauge the strength of this generation's Shinigami – but more because Karin had kicked him out of the house for lazing around everyday.

When he was drop-kicking Ganju out of bed that morning – the poor guy had become his target when Ichigo wasn't around – he didn't imagine that he would be coming face to face with his long-lost son.

At first, he was ecstatic. He wanted to just run up to hug Ichigo there and then, but when he saw his son's reservations, he pulled back.

It was obvious that the child (Ichigo would always be a child to Isshin no matter how old) needed more time. As much as he would have liked to wrap Ichigo up to bring home as a present for Karin and Yuzu, he couldn't force it out of the closed-off man that stood before him.

This man was Kai – he'd heard as much about the genius Academy student – not Ichigo yet.

Isshin would wait.

He would stay silent and wait.

He had already waited eight years, so what would a few more matter?

* * *

'Kai. Get ready.' Raido instructed.

Being the lowest ranked, Ichigo was the first to go.

The Shinigami of the Eighth Division were staring down at him condescendingly from one side of the benches while the Sixth Division Shinigami were cheering for him on the other side as he walked into the ring.

His opponent was the twentieth seat of the Eighth Division, and he looked to be just a tiny bit stronger than Kosuke had been.

Having just been recognized by Isshin, Ichigo was now hesitating.

Should he or should he not win this? There was no guarantee that this unique gift to hide Ichigo would last anymore, and having an Academy student beat a seated officer was sure to draw the attention of some nosey Shinigami.

**Do you want to win?**

_**Bloody hell duh. Get 'em and smash 'em.** _

**Ichigo must answer for himself, Shiro.**

The other Shinigami had drawn his zanpakutou and was coming at him now. The man had charged directly, throwing caution to the wind in a confrontation with what he thought was a mere Academy student.

Just a step to the side and a quick jab with his fingers would be all that was needed for Ichigo to take the Shinigami down.

_I want to win._

Ichigo moved.

As crucial as it was for Ichigo to avoid suspicion, he hated losing, especially on purpose. It went against his very principle of working to the bone to always achieve what he wanted to. Anyway, the Sixth Division had already seen his ability before, so hiding it would seem more suspicious, wouldn't it?

At least that was Ichigo's excuse.

'S-Sixth Division victory!' The referee shouted.

One would have expected that the Sixth Division would be cheering loudly upon their victory, but all the Shinigami – both Sixth and Eighth Divisions' – were deathly quiet in the wake of Ichigo's triumph, their expressions varying from shock to awe to alarm.

That move Ichigo had pulled off was even more complex than the ones he had shown before against the Sixth Division. It might sound simple, but it took a great deal of speed to prevent the on-coming opponent from changing course, great precision to accurately aim for a vulnerable spot, and great control to exert just enough strength to incapacitate but not kill. It wasn't even normal for a Shinigami, much less an Academy student, to have enough strength to execute the move in the first place. Had any average Shinigami tried it, they would have only slightly bruised their opponent if they even managed to get into position to jab him.

Kosuke, who was seated among the audience, was dumbstruck. Kai had obviously been holding back when they were fighting in Rukongai, when Kosuke could have been so easily crushed by the student. Kai's sheer potential was overwhelming as a first-year student – or any student at all – and to think that he had been in Soul Society for only less than a month too?

Kai was a monster, Kosuke concluded.

Inspecting the silence around him, Kosuke wondered if his fellow Shinigami could see the pure genius, or was only focusing on the fact that their pride had been crushed.

The silence was lasting uncomfortably long.

_Clap-_

_Clap-_

Kyoraku starting clapping languidly, and the rest of the Shinigami, taking the cue from their Captain, gradually joined in.

* * *

Ichigo had known all along that he wasn't very welcome among the Shinigami. Many Shinigami of some noble blood didn't like the fact that a mere Rukongai upstart was given so much favor. They assumed the student had conducted some sort of backdoor deal to get to where he was.

Even when Ichigo displayed his skill to prove his ability, there was a certain group of Shinigami who refused to accept the obvious evidence shoved in front of their faces.

If only they knew who he really was…

_**Pft. They'd be kissing your feet. Just step on 'em now and be done with it.** _

As much as Ichigo didn't want to admit it, Shiro _was_ a part of his inner ego. At times, he really just felt like obliterating the stuck-up pieces of shit numb-nuts – oops, Shiro was affecting him too much.

Now, however, with two Captains openly showing praise, the stubborn Shinigami had to concede that Ichigo really had skill and join in the clapping rather than invoke the ire of their Captains by insisting otherwise.

Ichigo felt so good.

_**Yeah, eat shit, you fuckwits.** _

**Mind your language, Shiro.**

Since the whole joint exercise was to last four days, matches would be held each day in the morning until five ranks were removed. This would pace out the matches evenly, and leave the fight between Captains for the last day. At the rate it was going, however, it seems like none of the officers of the Sixth Division was going to have to step in.

Ichigo was on his third opponent for the day, and he hadn't even drawn his zanpakutou against any of them yet.

The Eighth Division Shinigami would have all been so ashamed by this, had their Captain not excessively praised the student as a once-in-a-Shinigami-lifetime genius (Shinigami lived very, _very_ long).

With the quick defeat of the seventeenth seat, the Eighth Division's sixteenth seat was warming up for battle when an emergency missive was delivered from the First Division.

_Protection and retrieval – five-member squad – District 80, North Rukongai – Divisions: 4, 6 – Command: Fourth, ninth seat._

This was to be a joint mission between the Fourth and Sixth Division to District Eighty, headed by the ninth seat of the Fourth Division.

Byakuya was tasked to form a squad of five members to combine with the other squad from the Fourth Division.

There was an unwritten rule to these missives: the members Byakuya sent had to be lower than ninth seat to maintain the chain of command, and at least one Shinigami who had attained Shikai had to be included since it was a protection mission.

The only person under ninth seat whom Byakuya knew for certain had Shikai was… Raido. He had seen the ever-hard-working officer practice it in the Kuchiki estate before.

This was a problem, however. If he sent Raido, Kai would have to go along since he was attached for his advancement course, but he couldn't knowingly send a student into a situation which had potential danger.

Seeing that he didn't have much time to think it over, Byakuya consulted Kyoraku who was looking over his shoulder at the small slip of paper.

'Send him.'

Well, if Kyoraku who had centuries of experience as a Captain on top of Byakuya deemed the mission trivial enough to send the student, Byakuya had no right to object.

The joint exercise was secondary to a mission. This contest could wait, or could be carried out without them.

* * *

'How fast can you shunpo?' The ninth seat medic had to know if the Academy student could keep up.

'I'll be able to follow.' Ichigo shrugged off the concern. He wasn't going to hinder the mission by worrying about hiding his ability here, not when the lives of people were involved.

After meeting the Fourth Division squad at the North gate of Seireitei, Ichigo's squad was briefed.

It seems that the joint exercise between the Tenth and Twelfth Division had gone awry. Their expedition members were split up into four different groups, each heading into a different section of Rukongai.

The central command had lost contact with the group that headed to the North, and were sending healers and fighters because something was assumed to have gone wrong. The mission was going to be tedious, as they had no means to know exactly where the Shinigami were. They would have to search from District One all the way through to District Eighty.

'We'll be slowing down at around District Thirty to start the search. It was their last point of contact.' The ninth seat – his name was Tadashi – commanded as they were shunpo-ing over the buildings of Rukongai.

Although it would have been more appropriate to send out the Tenth and Twelfth Division Shinigami to search for their own men, their respective Captains and Vice-Captains were leading the different groups that went into Rukongai. Toshiro was stuck in the West while Mayuri was in the South. The group in the North was headed by Rangiku.

Upon hearing this information, the expressions on the faces of the Sixth Division squad members hardened. This was not going to be easy. Whatever it was that took out a Vice-Captain was not something to make light of. Furthermore, they had to simultaneously protect the healers who had little to no combat ability.

Why hadn't the Fourth Division sent a higher seat as commander? That way, the Sixth could have also sent out their higher seats on this mission as well.

'All the seated officers above ninth were borrowed for the expeditions to the Human World and Rukongai, so there would be some from the Fourth Division we need to find as well.' Tadashi continued providing the details.

Well, that explained it.

* * *

Late in the afternoon, Ichigo and the group of Shinigami finally entered District Thirty of North Rukongai and got to work.

They used a tracer that they had received from the Twelfth Division which could detect abnormally high reiatsu traces. Following the trial of high reiatsu individuals that they assumed to have belonged to Rangiku's group, they were brought to an uninhabited piece of forest that connected to District Forty of East Rukongai.

'There's nothing here.' A fighter on the squad remarked.

No, there wasn't nothing.

Ichigo could feel a faint trace of reiatsu that didn't belong to any human or Shinigami.

It didn't even feel like a hollow.

Not knowing how to present this to his superiors who couldn't sense a thing, Ichigo stabbed the underside of his arm lightly to leak blood onto the forest bed.

'Hey, I've found some blood here. Maybe we should go in deeper?' Ichigo innocently reported.

_**Genius, King. Pure genius.** _

At that moment, a screech sounded from the part of the forest they had entered from, and the squad dashed toward it to investigate.

An all too familiar waver in the light caught Ichigo's eye. There was a sharp shivering and warping of the air around the area, before a neat horizontal line cut through the empty space. The line spread apart like an eye-lid to reveal pure black emptiness.

The moment the Garganta opened, the screeching intensified. The other squad members, having also seen it, had spread out into defensive positions and Raido dragged Ichigo behind the line of fighters to stay with the healers at the back.

What emerged from the dimensional tear was something completely otherworldly. Even Ichigo, war veteran of one of the worst conflicts in Shinigami history, had never seen this creature before.

This thing wasn't grotesque looking like the hollows from Heuco Mundo that all Shinigami were used to expecting. It was-

Another screech, even louder and more ear-piercing this time, shook the forest and by the end of it, Ichigo was the only one left standing. The rest of the squad had dropped like flies from receiving the physical and spiritual shock, and Ichigo hadn't even had time to react.

Cursing to himself and hoping that they weren't dead, Ichigo whipped out both Zangetsu and Shiro, tossing the useless zanpakutou he was given to the side. He sprang into action.

For all that it was loud and expelled a massive reiatsu which was crushing the other Shinigami, it was surprisingly easy to dispatch. Its movements were slow and unfocused, as if it was made purely for passive distraction in battle. A single clean slice using Shiro was all it took to defeat it.

The moment the creature fell, the Garganta behind it disappeared.

'You… I've never seen you before…' Rangiku came staggering out from behind the trees into the clearing. Rangiku would always keep tabs on the male population of Shinigami, especially one who looked as delectable as this one – for potential recruitment into the Division, of course. But she hadn't even known of his existence until now.

'I'm Kai, with the Sixth Division.' Ichigo introduced himself as he bent to check on his squad before moving toward Rangiku. She looked like she was about collapse at any moment. Fortunately, his squad members were only unconscious, but now, their healers were also out of commission.

'How did you kill that thing so easily?' Rangiku asked Ichigo as he supported her to lean her against a tree that was closer to the rest of the squad.

_Damn. She saw._

_**Busty as ever, that chick.** _

Ichigo mentally eye-rolled.

_Priorities, Shiro._

Still suppressing his reiatsu to play the part of an Academy student, Ichigo hadn't detected when Rangiku had approached the battle. He didn't even know how much of the battle she had witnessed.

'I didn't kill it. I was hiding behind the rest of the squad when they collapsed. Then the monster just ran away when I was moving closer to it.' Ichigo smoothly explained without looking at Rangiku.

'Huh. I could have sworn…'

* * *

This was not in a good situation. It was very, very bad, in fact.

The rest of the squad was still out cold, with only one other fighter from the Sixth Division having regained consciousness. The squad was neatly placed close together near the tree Rangiku sat under – they were all shifted from their initial positions by Ichigo.

Rangiku's own expedition team had scattered apart when they were attacked by that same creature. Their original expedition boundary for that day was between the thirtieth and forty-fifth District, which means that the other Shinigami on the team might have ran off for refuge anywhere in between.

Rangiku herself was in no condition to move because the creature apparently had some disabling ability that prevented Shinigami from replenishing their reiryoku naturally once they were knocked down. As it was, the other members of the squad were hovering dangerously close to reiatsu depletion and their lives were hanging by a thread.

Ichigo, with his despairingly limited medical knowledge, was focused on nursing Tadashi in hopes that he would be able to help with the rest once he woke.

'It's getting late.' The other fighter commented.

Yes, it was. They would have to find shelter soon or risk being left blind to attacks in the middle of the night.

'Matsumoto-Fukutaichou, will you all be fine here for a while? I'll have to look for some place for us to rest.' In another world where Ichigo was really a regular Academy student, he would have been scared shitless by the events thus far, and would be cowering beside the Vice-Captain, hoping he wouldn't have to do anything. But here, he was the only able-bodied one left and had no choice but to step up.

* * *

_Thank Kami_. By the time Ichigo returned, Tadashi was conscious and was already sitting up, albeit looking a little pained.

'This isn't something I can just heal. We would require large amounts of reiatsu to insert into their systems. Right now, all of us except the kid there are completely drained.' Tadashi was explaining to Rangiku after diagnosing the conditions of the unconscious members of their squad.

Rangiku, being the highest ranking officer, had now taken over charge of the squad. All of them were effectively stranded in the forest with only one student who was able to fight. Like with her expedition team, that reiatsu blast from the creature destroyed the communication device of the retrieval squad, so they couldn't send back word for help either. With two squads facing the same situation, Gotei 13 would only send more reinforcements in a week or two to prevent the over-flooding of high reiatsu individuals in an area – it could attract numerous hollows. In the worst-case scenario, they would be stuck here for days – maybe weeks – as their members recuperated. That would be fine, if not for the lurking threat of hollows or that creature appearing, and the fact that they had members who were dying.

They didn't have the option of seeking refuge in the Rukongai slums either – it would be breaking mission protocol. All injured Shinigami were forbidden from entering residential areas as it would only cause the citizens panic to see that there was something capable of injuring the Shinigami. It was a stupid rule, but it was what kept the Gotei 13 in power for centuries. Also, if they went into residential areas, there was a chance that a hollow could be lured in by the Shinigamis' unusually high reiatsu.

Rangiku also had the responsibility to find the rest of her expedition team. She sighed. At times like this, she really appreciated the calm and decisiveness of her chibi Captain. What she wouldn't give to have him here…

'Can you do reiatsu transfer?' Ichigo asked Tadashi. Back during the war against Aizen, he had seen Unohana doing it a couple of times.

'I can, but what are you suggesting? None of us here have enough reiatsu to even move.'

'I do.'

'There's no way your reiatsu would be enough. Just filling one person would take a whole day of reiatsu transfer in the state they are in. That would essentially be transferring all the reiryoku you have now into another person, and you're only a student.' Tadashi bit out in frustration.

'Let's try. Just do it. My instructors are always telling me I have plenty of reiatsu.' Ichigo pressed, sounding like a naïve Academy student, but he didn't care, if the guy would just _do it_. He didn't know for sure how many people he could handle, but he knew that even one more able-bodied person would mean one less burden to their squad.

Tadashi was preparing to admonish the student for coming up with something so foolish, when, 'Try it.' Rangiku suggested. Coming from a superior officer during a mission, it was an order.

It was close to midnight by the time Ichigo painstaking brought every member of their squad into the small cove sheltered by a large rock outcropping that he had found earlier. Because food was limited, each of them only took a piece of bread before they settled to rest.

'Give me your wrist.' Tadashi directed, his hands glowing a faint green.

They were transferring reiryoku into another medic on the team. Ichigo had insisted on it to be done on the one who could also do reiatsu transfer. He didn't doubt for a second that Tadashi would be the one worn out before him.

* * *

After conducting the reiatsu transfer process through the night, Tadashi was now asleep from exhaustion.

Just pumping reiatsu into the other medic during the night didn't seem to be enough to refill the medic's reiryoku, so their situation was the same as before.

Shaking Rangiku awake to get her to take over the watch, Ichigo left their small hideout to look for the missing expedition members. He had to get this done as quickly as possible. Tadashi had implied that being so close to reiatsu depletion for a prolonged period could result in death. Rangiku and the other fighter also didn't look like they could hold out that much long without proper rest and treatment. If it came down to it, Ichigo would have to transfer reiatsu to them instead of the unconscious members even if it meant the other members would die – unconscious people were a burden. Ichigo had no room now for compassion when just one wrong decision would lead them all to their deaths.

This pressure Ichigo was feeling was achingly familiar. He had carried it throughout the war when lives had been constantly depending on him.

* * *

Three days passed like this.

Like clockwork, Ichigo would transfer his reiatsu at night and head out to search for the missing members in the day.

He had found two of the members – one was unconscious while the other was barely hanging on to consciousness.

By then, two members of their retrieval squad had awoken – Raido and the other medic – but they fared no better than Rangiku in their state of perpetual reiatsu exhaustion.

No one bothered to question Ichigo anymore. Everyone was just fighting to stay alive and conscious.

Looking at the food they had left, Ichigo figured their group would only last three more days, or four at most, if he split his share among the others. Ichigo was already used to going long periods of time without sleep or food since he always went on solo raids in Heuco Mundo for months on end. He always had to watch his own back, and whatever meagre food he had was salvaged from old Shinigami camps and outposts in the desert.

Within the next three days, Ichigo also had to find some way to transport all the members, both conscious and unconscious, back to Seireitei.

They would have to leave here in four days, regardless of whether he managed to find the rest of the team or not. The ones with him now weren't going to make it past that.

With that thought in mind, Ichigo left the hideout again with grim determination.

* * *


	7. Author's Note

Hi everyone!

Thanks for reading, and all you reviewers have my utmost gratitude :)

I would just like to announce that there is actually the exact same story that I've posted on fanfiction.net which is always two chapters ahead, so for those of you impatient readers, you can head there to have a look!

I just post slower here for the purely AO3 patrons because I only got an account after I've already started on the story, and well, lazy...

 


	8. Chapter 8

'It has almost been a week. We should already be sending someone else!' Renji was agitatedly trying to persuade his stone-faced Captain.

He received only the expected silence as response in the Captain's office.

It was a typical day, with the clouds overhead meandering leisurely through the sky that was a soft baby blue. No one would think there was anything wrong in the World. Soul Society was bustling with life as usual for the ignorant inhabitants who had their safety guaranteed by Shinigami risking their lives on missions.

Children were innocently playing "escape the hollow" on the streets in the market district, where they appoint a "hollow" and have to run from that person while the appointed "Shinigami" has to save the others but cannot kill the "hollow", though neither can the "hollow" kill the "Shinigami". This was an age old traditional game in Rukongai, carried out in naïve ignorance through the years without children knowing the true horror and viciousness of hollows, and the price Shinigami pay to protect the citizens.

Renji shuddered at the thought that he was once a part of that crowd before he enrolled to become a Shinigami himself. He didn't want to be blindly protected by people anymore – he would be the one doing the protecting.

However, now that he was a Shinigami, it seems he was still far from his goal of protecting the people he cared about – even if most of them were Shinigami.

They had lost contact with the retrieval squad on the very day the squad was sent out, but orders from above were to wait and assess the situation before taking any action. They didn't want the same thing happening to yet another squad if they hastily sent one out in panic.

This was the Shinigami way – wait and see. It has been like that for centuries past, and no one saw fit to change what had been working since the very start of their reign.

Renji was tense with frustration now.

They had sent out the weaker fighters just because the highest commanding officer from the Fourth Division was the ninth seat, and Renji had to wonder why the mission wasn't assigned to their Division in the first place when they obviously had the more capable fighters.

Just because the Fourth had already received a more thorough report?

However inane that might sound, Renji didn't doubt that it could be the actual reason for this situation – because their world's leaders were really that much of a stickler for rules and protocols. They even condemned Rukia to death before for simply _helping someone,_ even though it was what Shinigami were _supposed_ to do in the first place.

Renji had a bad feeling about this mission the moment the missive had arrived. Although he didn't know the exact details, he had heard while drinking with Ikkaku, that Rangiku was going out into Rukongai for this joint exercise – Ikkaku had apparently seen her busy applying thick conditioning for her hair in preparation for being away for a few days.

If there was a Vice-Captain out there, what could possibly have gone wrong?

When his Captain made the decision to send Raido with the student, he was seriously questioning the man's judgement no matter how much he respected his Captain. However talented the student may be, it wasn't like they didn't have any other option but to send him, and if it came down to it, they could have sent out a higher seat and deal with the annoying reprimanding and paperwork after.

Never had a first-year gone on a mission before, much less one that included protection orders. Those missions were exponentially more difficult than simple retrieval missions because there would be people requiring protection on top of just having to carry out the required retrieval duties.

Renji himself only started accompanying Shinigami on easy missions when he was in his fifth-year, and he was already one of the lucky, more talented few. Moreover, the mission was suspiciously void of details.

Currently, Renji couldn't even send another squad to search for their missing Division members because of something as stupid as paranoia of the higher-ups and even though Kuchiki Raido was with the squad, his Captain, being as impassive as he was, didn't seem to care about his own family.

'Taichou, I'm going to patrol around the North gate.' Renji finally bit out at his Captain after giving up on just glaring.

* * *

Byakuya was inwardly worrying.

To others, however, it would seem as if he were doing a normal day's work – because Kami forbid a noble like himself would show outward agitation.

He could entirely empathize with Renji's frustration.

Ever since Ichigo had bankai-ed his ass out of the chains of blind compliance he used to have, Byakuya started to always question the orders he receives, and would sometimes ask himself, what would Ichigo do in this situation?

However, Byakuya never put his thoughts into action. He could never be as strong as Ichigo was. Deep down, he was still bound from going against the centuries old subservience ingrained into him and his clan.

Right now, whenever he felt like personally go out into Rukongai to find his Division members, he always stopped himself with the excuses that maybe they were already on the way back, or maybe they were taking refuge in Rukongai living areas, or maybe they were all completely fine and it was only the communication device that had broken.

Yes, Byakuya was a coward.

Over the years, he grew accustomed to holding on to the thought that everything would ultimately be alright as long as Ichigo was around to save the day. That has always been the case, hasn't it?

Now, Byakuya still carried this feeling with him even though he knew, rationally, that Ichigo wasn't with them anymore.

Kyoraku had already stopped by the Sixth Division barracks a couple of times this past week to check if the retrieval squad had returned, and Byakuya could see that the older Captain felt responsible at having been the one to push Byakuya to send the student on the mission.

Unexpectedly, Isshin also dropped in for news on the retrieval squad, and Byakuya assumed that the other noble had an acquaintance who was out there – or Karin kicked him out the house again.

Word had spread about this situation throughout all the Divisions when Toshiro's flaring reiatsu could be felt on the day his group returned from the expedition in West Rukongai. Of course, the young Captain wanted to lead a squad out for search and rescue immediately, but he had to be restrained and admonished by Kyoraku himself.

'Yes, someone you care about is in danger, but this is not how a Captain should act.' The older Captain's stern voice rumbled through the Tenth Division barracks.

A bag of candies – clearly from Juushiro – was found on the small Captain's desk that day.

With the current situation, they had no choice then, but to wait for news.

Byakuya was impatiently pacing the room – not that he would let anyone see it – and had constantly sent out requests for a search and rescue, however futile that action may be. The higher-ups will only send back-up when, or if, they wanted to, but it made him feel slightly better because he was at least doing something.

* * *

It has been a week since they were out here. They had to move.

Ichigo had found most of the missing expedition team members by now, but there was still one more left. Even though he wanted to push forward in his search and it was against his nature to just give up on a person, he had other priorities for now.

Spread around their hideout, the squad looked tattered and in shambles. Already, one of the medics who was originally part of the expedition team almost died, and only Tadashi's quick save by transferring Ichigo's reiatsu into her instead was what kept her alive.

Yesterday, instead of transferring reiatsu to an unconscious member of the squad, Ichigo transferred as much as he could to Rangiku. Knowing about Rangiku's unique Shikai, he planned to use it to transport the unconscious Shinigami back to Seireitei, so he needed her to be as fit as possible.

'Can you do this?' Ichigo asked Rangiku. Although he had already given her reiatsu, she was still much weaker than usual.

'Growl, Haineko.' Was the answer he received as Rangiku released her zanpakutou which turned to ash to form a cloud around the squad.

'I can try channeling Kai's reiatsu into Matsumoto-Fukutaichou while we're moving, so the Shikai release will essentially be powered by Kai.' Tadashi informed them.

'But Kai already gave too much of-'

'Do it.' Ichigo interrupted Rangiku. In any normal situation, he would have been harshly reprimanded for being so rude in front of a superior officer, but right now, no one really noticed or even cared anymore.

* * *

The whole squad was on the cloud of ash, while Ichigo was shunpo-ing along the uninhabited regions of Rukongai with Tadashi holding on to his wrist from where he was seated on the make-shift magic flying carpet.

Fortunately, the bed of ash had been large enough for everyone present, though some of the conscious Shinigami had to hug onto their unconscious members.

Good. Just a little more and they would reach Seireitei.

The group was now travelling along a stretch of abandoned land outside of District One's residential area and the grand walls of Seireitei loomed in the horizon.

As they approached Seireitei, Ichigo noticed a figure running at a slow pace a good distance in front of them with his keen senses. Could it be…?

It was a Shinigami who looked like he could use some help to simply stay on his feet, and Ichigo had to admire the strength of will he had to push himself toward his goal. Deciding to intercept the poor medic before he collapsed in a heap, Ichigo veered slightly to the right to direct their course to align their group with the Shinigami in front. If Ichigo hadn't been so tired right then, he would have used the extra energy to thank Kami that he hadn't left someone behind after all. He hadn't failed someone yet.

Just then, a large hollow appeared on the left of that lone Shinigami through a Garganta and jumped at him.

'Run!' It was the only help Ichigo could give at this distance and with his burden.

The Shinigami ran toward the right. Even while clearly exhausted and drained, it was ingrained into Shinigami that under no circumstances were they to bring hollows close to Seireitei, although it would have been easy for the Shinigami posted as guards to deal with.

Curse the damned paranoid geezers who came up with the rules.

There was a whole class in the Academy dedicated to just rules, called 'Shinigami Regulation 101'. It was compulsory for all first-years, and Ichigo thought the class should have been called 'Shinigami Regulation 101+965015632' instead, with the never-ending set of rules they had. Their textbook for that class was even thicker than Isshin's skull.

Making up his mind, Ichigo released Tadashi's grip on his wrist and broke off from his group.

The ash cloud faltered a little before Rangiku picked up slack to continue moving it.

Good, Ichigo knew she could do it. It was just going to be for a while more before they reached safety.

'I'm going to find that last member. All of you head back to Seireitei first.' Ichigo directed as he shunpo-ed away at an even greater speed before anyone could object.

* * *

'Kuchiki-Taichou! The retrieval squad has returned! They are now receiving medical treatment at the Fourth-

Without listening to the rest of the report, Byakuya shunpo-ed straight to the Fourth Division barracks where he found many Captains and Vice-Captains already waiting for news - it was heartening to see so much concern over the missing Shinigami.

'All of them are accounted for except two.' A medic reported to the group.

Byakuya's heart sank.

'Which two?'

'Fifth seat of the Twelfth and the Academy student.'

Somehow, Byakuya had been prepared for Kai to be brought up, because something unexpected always happened around the student. Now, he didn't know whether to feel glad that the rest of his Division members were alright, or worried that the Academy student was still missing.

Of course, Byakuya eventually chose to just stoically nod.

'How are the members?' Toshiro clearly wanted to barge into the patient room to see for himself that his Vice-Captain was well.

'Rest assured, Unohana-Taichou is attending to them as we speak.'

* * *

Someone up there hated Ichigo.

Definitely. Hated. Him.

Ichigo was chasing after the last member of the expedition team when the hollow caught up and grabbed the Shinigami. The hollow then opened a Garganta to escape, right as Ichigo was furiously pushing himself to _save him._

A little more.

_Faster._

_Now._

_No time._

The Garganta closed.

Ichigo cursed so colorfully that Shiro would have been proud, if Shiro hadn't been cursing right along with him.

He was too late again.

He failed to save someone again.

Weak. He was still too weak.

He _could_ open a Garganta using Shiro to go in search for that medic, but no one would know which part of Heuco Mundo the hollow entered. It would be impossible to search through the endless white desert in the faintest hopes that the medic hadn't already been killed by the hollow.

Ichigo could feel his whole body aching now. His reserves had been emptied long ago, and he was moving only through pure grit and determination. With this last chase over, he slumped to the ground exhausted. The past week had taken a toll on him he never thought possible ever since the war had ended.

Battles of waiting and attrition were always more likely to wear out men than outright fighting, and Aizen knew that. During the war, for days on end, squads would face hollows who didn't attack but merely defended to prevent the Shinigami from returning to friendly territory. It would last until the Shinigami were worn down from hunger and exhaustion, then the hollows would finish off the easy targets, or they would kill themselves by going for a suicidal attack.

The worst part of it all was that the Gotei 13 knew what Aizen was doing, but never stopped sending out Shinigami anyway. They _couldn't_ stop, because it would have meant Aizen expanding his area of influence in the war.

Ichigo did the only thing he could – eventually kill the megalomaniac as retribution, stabbing him more than once for good measure.

He had done his job, and he hoped the dead were resting in peace, wherever they may be.

Ichigo was tired.

Just a while. He would rest for just a while.

* * *

The first thing Ichigo did when he returned to Seireitei was to head back to Shin'o Academy for a shower.

He was exhausted beyond words, and wanted to just take a warm bath before fusing with his bed for the next few days without seeing anyone or doing anything.

_Knock, knock-_

Ichigo was still half-naked from having just returned from the bathroom and had a towel wrapped around his torso.

_Go answer the door. I'm too fucking tired to deal with people._

_**You're bloody weak, King. That mission was easy as pie.** _

**Ichigo, we cannot materialize here. Your guest is waiting.**

Damn Zangetsu for always being the logical one, and the old man didn't even bother defending Ichigo from Shiro's insults anymore. Ichigo had to wonder if he was really King among them.

'I swear, if it's you coming to bother me again, Shinji, I'm going to bloody skewer your ugly mug.' Ichigo called out as he opened the door.

'Kai. You should have reported in first before anything else.' It was Renji standing in front of the door with Juushiro and Unohana standing off to the side.

'I'm too tired for that shit, Renji. Just leave me alone for a bit.' Ichigo bit out.

There was a short pause before Ichigo slammed the door in their faces.


	9. Chapter 9

'I'm too tired for that shit, Renji. Just leave me alone for a bit.' Ichigo bit out.

There was a short pause before Ichigo slammed the door in their faces.

* * *

A Shinigami who was on patrol near the North gate had gone to look for Kuchiki-Taichou in the Fourth Division barracks, reporting that he noticed an Academy student returning from Rukongai. When questioned by the patrolling Shinigami, the Academy student claimed that he had just returned from a mission and would be going back to the Academy. Since it was a known fact that there was only one Academy student attached to the Gotei 13, the Shinigami correctly acted to report it to the Sixth Division Captain.

Alarmed, Byakuya sent Renji to fetch Unohana to check up on the student. From the accounts of the squad, Kai should be gravely exhausted and injured.

Maybe in his worn-out state, the student had forgotten Shinigami protocol to always report back after a mission before doing anything else.

As Academy Head, Juushiro heard the news and decided to put off his work to follow along in order to ensure that the student was safe. He was responsible for them after all, though Juushiro must admit that he was also rather interested in this particular student.

When only silence answered their knocking at first, Juushiro was ready to burst in in case the student had collapsed, but they eventually heard some muttering about Shinji from the other side of the door – the student wasn't supposed to be on first name basis with the Vizard, right? – and Kai emerged looking very disgruntled.

He looked terrible.

There were deep eye bags carved below his eyes, and his cheeks had sunken in which made him look unhealthily thin, but what looked the most jarringly painful on the body of the student were the many scars that stretched over almost every inch of bare skin. It was clearly torture.

They were old scars that looked to have marred the body before he died, but Juushiro wondered if there had there been such violence in the Human World in recent years. The boy couldn't have been more than a century old…

Kai looked like he hadn't even realized he was standing half-naked in front of two Captains and a Vice-Captain – or maybe he didn't care.

'I'm too tired for that shit, Renji. Just leave me alone for a bit.'

Okay, Kai definitely hadn't realized that he was not appropriately dressed if he was even calling Renji by the first name.

Why did it sound like it was a habit?

The three visitors were all standing still for a short moment while assessing the condition of the student in silence. Juushiro was just about to request that Unohana tend to him immediately when-

_Slam-_

Luckily for Kai, there were no other students around at this time of the day or he would have been condemned throughout his Academy life as "the one who had slammed his door shut in the faces of Captains of the Gotei 13", and then most probably shunned in the Gotei 13 Divisions when he graduated.

Did he realize what students - or even Shinigami - wouldn't give to have Captains personally visit them?

No, he probably didn't. He didn't seem the type to care about hierarchy and social structure. In his exhausted state, Kai's disregard for respectful greeting would have been even more pronounced, and Juushiro didn't want to burden the student with punishment when it was obvious the boy was completely worn out.

As it stood, however, Juushiro still had to make sure the student was treated. It would be his personal failure if something happened to the student.

'He will be fine with just some rest and nutrition. I suggest you give him leave from classes for two weeks and let him recuperate in his room.' Unohana said to Juushiro as her gaze bored into Renji's just as he was about to angrily knock again.

Right. Renji got the message.

Doctor's orders: No disturbing the student.

* * *

'In short, he had no food, no sleep, and did six nights of reiatsu transfer while looking for the whole expedition team?' Yoruichi asked incredulously during the Captain's Assembly after Byakuya reported the outcome of the mission. 'What the hell were the rest of the _actual_ Shinigami doing?'

'As reported, they came across a creature that-'

'Yes, I got that. So why was the student the only one able to do anything?' Yoruichi cut Byakuya off.

Her question was met with a silent room.

'He was probably lucky to have avoided the initial reiatsu wave attack. From the report, he was standing behind the squad, and the monster left before he was attacked.' Toshiro suggested after the pause, his voice laced with clear relief that his Division members were saved because of it.

The other more experienced Captains knew that this wasn't the answer Yoruichi was seeking with her question. She was bringing up why the student could carry out a feat that would have been difficult even for the Captains among them.

To transfer reiatsu just _once_ would have left the donor in a reiatsu exhausted state, and to do it without food, rest, and while exerting himself physically on top of that? It was suicide.

'Unohana-Taichou, you evaluated his condition, so you must know it best.' Juushiro regarded the regal medic.

'The student's reiatsu level had to be exceedingly high to pull off such a feat, and he seemed to be comfortable – or at least not uncomfortable – with going for days without food and sleep. I assume he has been through a situation like that before, since he also displayed exceptional situational analysis and decision-making in keeping the squad alive. He-' Unohana paused, seeming to consider something.

'Is it about his scars?' Juushiro provided.

'Yes, there were many, but half looked to be deliberate and the other half accidental. Even a very seasoned fighter wouldn't have that many marks from battle, so this student seems rather unique. It was also why I let him remain in his own room to recover, in case he got triggered by anything if I let the medics touch him. He will be fine with just some rest and proper feeding.'

'I conducted a background check on him, but there was nothing I could find from before he entered Shin'o Academy, only that he started out in District One of East Rukongai.' Sui-Feng added. 'He could have been some sort of General or expert fighter in his human life.'

'Ukitake, he is graduating by the end of the semester?' Yamamoto-Soutaichou asked his old student.

'He is supposed to be graduating after the end of his first year, but I can arrange for it to be brought forward if you wish.' Juushiro offered.

'Let him graduate as per schedule then, but have him placed in another squad after Kuchiki's.' From his recent accomplishment, it seems the student was indeed talented enough to warrant Yamamoto-Soutaichou's personal investment in his development.

'Moving on to the search for Kurosaki Ichigo, has Kisuke managed to secure any information using that device of his?' Sui-Feng initiated the new topic.

'The device was up and running for a while a few days back, but there was a minor malfunction because the signal appeared to be pointing toward South Rukongai, but our initial search led us to believe Ichigo had been somewhere in the East.

'I don't believe Ichigo could have migrated from East to South so quickly, seeing as the fastest way to get to the South would be by going through Seireitei, and the side link between the two areas has a wide forest infested with hollows. If he did come through Seireitei, he would have been reported. If he went through the forest and killed hollows, our Shinigami would have noticed it.' Kisuke reported. 'It would take a while more for me to sort out the issues and apply it again.'

'Has anyone considered that maybe Ichigo doesn't want to be found?' Toshiro hesitantly broached.

The room of Captains fell silent.

'That might be the case...' Juushiro voice cut through the silence, 'but right now, we need him here more than ever. You know that.'

Juushiro's comment was met with the silent agreement of the Captains.

* * *

Ichigo went for classes the following week even though he was given time off by the Academy Head.

He had already recovered enough strength to be stronger than most Shinigami, and he didn't want to stand out yet again for having been given special consideration, since he had already missed a week of school during the mission.

The only odd thing that stood out was the instructors greeting him more politely and with more respect than usual – they must have heard about the mission from their Shinigami friends.

To his relief, he heard from the students' gossiping that the Vizards were on temporary leave, so their instructors would remain the same for now.

Good. No Shinji.

The past two days of classes had been a very welcome break after that nightmarish mission-gone-wrong, and Ichigo was glad for the extra time he had to himself before he would have to parade as "Kai" among the Shinigami again.

Over the weekend, Rangiku had personally visited him in the dorms while most students were out, to thank him for saving her team and the retrieval squad – what should have been her responsibility. She informed him that the other Shinigami on the squad had also wanted to visit him to convey their gratitude, but since Ichigo was supposed to be recuperating, they decided to have Rangiku visit alone as their representative. _And also because Rangiku would now have the chance to openly ogle the student,_ was the thought she didn't express.

Ichigo merely shrugged it off as having done his job like any Shinigami would, because he didn't really save them all, did he? He hadn't managed to save that last medic.

He would be carrying this personal brand of failure for a long time to come.

There was a slight moment of panic for Ichigo when Rangiku went quiet and narrowed her eyes at him, as if suspecting him of something. Then he relaxed when she just let up and left the room.

This situation seemed vaguely familiar...

At that moment, it finally clicked.

Ichigo recalled brushing off Renji and some Captains who had visited him previously, but his memory of that day was so hazy since he could hardly stay awake. The most vivid recollection he had of that time was wishing for everyone to just _go away._

Damn, did he do or say anything weird?

_**You fucked up bad, milord, kicking them off and all.** _

_Shit, I did that?_

Ichigo groaned. He was going to have to come up with some excuse the next time he saw them, or he would be blacklisted among the Gotei 13 for eternity.

**Shiro was exaggerating, Ichigo. You only slammed the door in their faces.**

That was supposed to be better?

Ichigo couldn't tell if Zangetsu was joking.

If he wasn't, Ichigo definitely needed to better educate his spirits on what _normal_ human interaction entailed.

Considering that he was given leave and had not been called up to the Academy Head's office, Ichigo figured that whatever damage he had done must have been repairable. Unohana usually wasn't that strict about formality unless it came to her patients, and Juushiro was patient and kind enough to excuse occasional slips, especially by students. The problem was with Renji… but Ichigo would just deal with it when the time comes – it helped that Renji was one of the more-brawn-and-less-brain Shinigami.

To Ichigo's surprise, Raido had also visited him during his leave.

The Shinigami stood in his room for a full five minutes before handing him a bento set, then Raido abruptly shunpo-ed out the window, leaving Ichigo speechless.

Had Raido been _shy_ in front of him?

Ichigo didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the thought. It would have been funny if it weren't so sad that Ichigo only ever got reactions like those from _guys_ who admired him. Why couldn't he attract some girls instead?

Raido was surprisingly like Byakuya with this way he acted – the Kuchiki blood they shared showed after all.

After a skirmish near the outer regions of Rukongai during the war, Ichigo could remember Byakuya bringing him tea while he had been recuperating in the Fourth Division barracks. Ichigo's presence resulted in minimal casualties for the Sixth Division, but at the expense of his own safety.

He had also been thoroughly scolded by Unohana for visiting her barracks too often, but the tea helped to drown out the nagging a little, so sticking to schedule, Ichigo proudly ended up in her barracks again just a month later.

While in his room after classes that afternoon, Ichigo realized that he should have asked Raido about the outcome of the contest. Did the Sixth or Eighth win? He couldn't imagine Kyoraku losing to anyone, but Byakuya was a force to be reckoned with as well, and Ichigo had to wonder how many training grounds were destroyed.

_Knock knock-_

Ichigo had been getting a lot of visitors lately.

Nobody visited Ichigo except Shinigami, and most students steered clear of his room.

What could it be about at this time?

When Ichigo got to the door, a slip of paper was passed through the gap at the bottom and he felt the reiatsu presence leave from the other side.

_5pm – rock wall. We have the star._

Ichigo read the note a second time, not quite catching it's meaning at first glance. The time and venue were obvious, but what was this star?

Over the years, Ichigo had seen enough of these things to discern that it was some kind of threat. If it was a fan letter or a confession note, it would have been decorated with more girly… stuff – or whatever those cute swirly symbols were called.

Deciding that it must be important enough for Ichigo to heed since someone was daring – or stupid – enough to threaten him, Ichigo left his room. There was only ten minutes to the meeting time, and the rock wall in the Hakuda section of the Academy was a good distance away from the dorms if he didn't shunpo.

* * *

Upon arriving at the written location, Ichigo saw Hoshi who was on the verge of tears.

Hoshi was tied loosely to a chair that was being stood on two legs, held in place by a man wearing the Academy uniform. Apart from some minor bruises, Hoshi seemed fine overall.

Well, he had better be, or there would be hell to pay. They might not be that close, but Ichigo already regarded Hoshi as his friend – someone he had to protect.

Every time Ichigo was acting out of the ordinary or had Shinigami business to attend to, Hoshi would always take it in stride and not question Ichigo too much, unlike other nosey students. Even though Ichigo could see that Hoshi was clearly curious, he did a good job of holding himself back just to give Ichigo his privacy.

Just yesterday, when most students were bothering Ichigo and asking about where Ichigo had been the previous week, Hoshi scolded them off by saying that students had no right to pry into Shinigami business.

It was a good thing he did that, because Ichigo had been about to lash out at the lot of them, and he would have done a lot more damage than a scolding Hoshi – enough to possibly make everyone hate him.

The "star" in that note was referring to Hoshi, Ichigo finally registered. It was the meaning of his name.

The man across him appeared to be alone, and Ichigo didn't recognize him from any of the first-year classes, so he must have been at least second-year.

Ichigo has encountered situations like these more than enough in his human lifetime. It was going to be the typical bully with an oversized pride picking a fight to prove that they could best him, blabla.

He was sick of it. There was no need to have brought Hoshi into this.

Without further fanfare and with repressed fury, Ichigo knocked out the senior and untied Hoshi within the span of a few seconds – he was still kickass against Academy students even in his weakened state.

'Kai! You hurt a student outside of practice hours.' Ichigo's Kido instructor barked out as he turned the corner and witnessed the whole encounter. Seemingly, he hadn't seen that Hoshi had been tied up and under threat by the senior before Ichigo interceded. To the instructor, it would look like Ichigo had been the sole perpetrator.

Ichigo realized he had broken the number one law in any society: don't break the rules, but if you do, don't get caught. Ichigo broke the rules – and he got caught.

'Wait, Kai was helping me.' Hoshi tried to explain on Ichigo's behalf.

'I'll only believe what I saw. He might have threatened you to defend him if he got caught.' The instructor reasoned.

At that unyielding tone, an epiphany struck. Ichigo had been _made_ to break the rules. Someone had set him up. The senior didn't resist at all when Ichigo was striking him, which, no matter how overpowered Ichigo was, was not possible unless the other party didn't have a shred of reiatsu. But no way an Academy student wouldn't have any reiatsu if they had passed the entrance test. Also, why else would his lazy Kido teacher, who gave their class more self-study sessions than he taught, willingly patrol around the school at this time?

'You're on detention for the rest of the week. No leaving the Academy grounds. You're to report to the staff office everyday from now.'

Predictably, the instructor wasn't even giving Ichigo himself a chance to explain.

* * *

By the time Ichigo returned to his room, the rumor mill had already started and there were students peeking out of their rooms to look at the celebrity as he walked past.

It was so unfair, but Ichigo, as a mere first-year Academy student, had no power to change anything. The instructors were the government here in this microscopic imitation of a society.

Was he going to get into trouble with the Division when they hear of this?

Ichigo didn't really care if he was to be punished, but somehow, he didn't want to disappoint Raido who was in-charge of him. Things would be a lot clearer if he had the chance to explain himself to them, but clearly, the instructor was confining him to prevent that. What better time to do this than when none of the higher-ranking Shinigami – Captains or Vizards – where around?

Juushiro would eventually hear of it once he gets to the bottom of his pile of paperwork, but that pile was probably as tall as Toshiro was short, so by then, things would have gone on long enough for his position as the villain to be imprinted in everyone's minds. It wouldn't help.

To Ichigo right now, it didn't even matter who was the mastermind behind sabotaging him anymore. It didn't change the fact that the event had already occurred, and only now did Ichigo realized why he had been set up.

For all that Ichigo was powerful and mentally strong, he wasn't proud of the fact that he could be quite dense toward how people felt around him.

There was only one reason someone was after him, wasn't it?

Envy.

Ichigo wasn't daft enough to not realize that his standing among the Shinigami was prestigious and highly sought after, and plenty of people loved to see others fall instead of climbing up themselves.

Ichigo sighed.

He should have seen that coming. Eight years of being out of touch with the ruthless nature of people had dulled his intuition. He had travelled around the globe after the war, avoiding large cities and sticking to smaller communities. Being thrown back into the fray so suddenly was disturbing his balance.

On his travels around the villages and in the places he temporarily stayed, Ichigo saw conflict between brothers for land, contempt toward parents, and deceit between friends. Wherever there were people, there was no escape from the multitude of negative connections and emotions.

However, in those small communities, Ichigo also came across alliances forged through hope, pure innocence in gestures, and simple forgiveness in punishment.

He wanted to retain this meaning – the meaning for his struggle to protect people.

Ichigo wanted to believe that the virtue he saw was real, not just some fleeting sentiment of fickle minds that were headed toward conflict at every turn.

He couldn't sleep that night – not that he usually slept much anyway.

* * *

At breakfast the next day, Ichigo observed that the senior he had beaten up looked no worse for wear.

So the other guy got to leave the school to go to the Fourth Division barracks but Ichigo had detention to serve?

Ichigo should have trashed him harder.

Hoshi hadn't arrived for breakfast yet, but maybe he was avoiding Ichigo after what happened the previous day – no good ever came out of associating with the outcast, after all. It was the smart and logical thing to do, but the part of Ichigo that was attached to his emotions felt strangely uncomfortable.

Ichigo sat down alone with his tray.

The reactions of the other students were polarised. Some were emanating distaste toward him for "bullying" another student, while others had expressions of awe when looking at him for being strong enough to beat up a senior. Apparently, that senior had quite the reputation among fourth-years for being proficient at Hakuda.

Everything Ichigo had been before – genius student, Hirako-sensei's pet, Shinigami trainee – was forgotten. Ichigo figured this was how society worked – opinions change in a matter of seconds, swept along with the tide of gossip.

In the middle of breakfast, the sounds of plates and utensils clanging suddenly stopped. Ichigo, with his back to the entrance of the canteen, assumed it was the teachers entering, and paid it no mind as he continued eating.

He heard footsteps approach.

There were people standing behind him now – three of them – he could feel as much.

He thought it was the Kido instructor acting alone, but were all the instructors ganging on him now?

Anyway, didn't the guy say yesterday that he was to go to the staff office on his own?

'Kai-kun, Kuchiki-Taichou has suggested that he take you as his personal assistant as part of your detention. Please go with him.' Ichigo heard his Zanjutsu instructor say with a tremor to his voice. Turning around and seeing the stormy looks that Byakuya and Juushiro were sending the man, Ichigo thought the request sounded more like pleading for Ichigo to get the irate Captains out of the Academy.

There was silence as Ichigo considered.

'Can I finish my breakfast?'


	10. Chapter 10

The situation was getting awkward.

Ichigo could _feel_ the frigid silence pervading the canteen for the past five minutes since the Captains sat down in front of him with their own breakfast trays.

He only commented about his breakfast to get back at the instructors for their unfair treatment, thinking that they would be left hanging to deal with the Captains, but he never expected that the Captains would agree, and even sit to join him.

Somehow, the canteen tray in front of the two dignified men didn't seem to suit their image.

Ichigo's Zanjutsu instructor had no choice but to join them since he was supposed to be the usher for the Captains at the Academy.

Why had the Captains come anyway? Weren't they supposed to be busy drowning under their paperwork somewhere else?

Seeing the Captains start eating, everyone in the canteen relaxed slightly and hushed whispers soon began around them.

_What did Kai-san do? They're here from him, aren't they? It can't be anything bad, they're eating with him!_

There was not just one, but _two_ Captains of the Gotei 13. Imagine seeing an idol they have admired all their lives – the idol that they never thought they'd have the chance to meet – suddenly come into their ordinary lives to casually have _breakfast,_ of all things?

Ichigo didn't doubt there would have been squealing and fan-girling (or fan-guying?) if it weren't for the obvious waves of displeasure that were rolling off the two powerful men.

It felt like everyone around them were holding their breaths.

There was still no explanation, and Byakuya was eating normally, looking as if he hadn't just stepped into the Academy to disrupt the breakfast of a whole canteen of students. Admittedly, it wasn't his fault that the student couldn't bring themselves to eat with the Captains in the same room, but some self-awareness to observe that they should have taken this conversation with Ichigo elsewhere would have been nice.

**You asked for it, Ichigo.**

Ah. Right. Damn his streak of cheekiness. Shinji was rubbing off him too much.

'Hoshi came to the Sixth Division barracks this morning. He told us about your situation and unjust treatment the previous day. Raido wanted to come to get you himself, but he didn't have the authority to override the instructor's judgement, so I came instead. Ukitake-Taichou is here because-'

'Hoshi came to see me too.' Juushiro cut into Byakuya's explanation. 'And Kyoraku-Taichou tagged along, but he's somewhere else in the Academy now dealing with... stuff.' Juushiro finished lamely.

* * *

As usual, Kyoraku was found in Juushiro's office that morning, bugging his friend about whatever poor lifeform had caught his interest that day. Now that the Vizards had been sent on an away mission, Juushiro was the only one left because no one else would give Kyoraku the time of day.

Many years ago, Kyoraku tried to get chummy with the Fourth Division when Juushiro was away, because what better way to get free passes for off days than obtaining a personal medic to write up fake diagnoses?

At least, that was what Kyoraku thought at first.

The only thing he got out of it, however, was a fixed patient ward exclusively for the Eighth Division's use – filled with instruments of torture, of course.

It was clever of Unohana, really. She could just stick whoever was bothering her in a bed and made sure they stayed there – doctor's orders, but also because she has strength enough to tie up whoever she wanted to.

Heeding Juushiro's advice, Kyoraku didn't try with the other Captains after that.

Nanao must be the reason the lazy Captain was up unusually early so often, but her method was evidently failing if all he did was laze around until afternoon before he even starteding work. Juushiro would have to enlighten her later, if he could get through the day of paperwork with Kyoraku being such a pest.

When Kyoraku was in the middle of his second cup of sake, a Shinigami of the Thirtheenth Division reported that there was an Academy student looking for Juushiro.

Such a thing hadn't happened in centuries because students typically looked for their instructors instead of directly bothering the Academy Head or other Captains, though it wasn't always this way.

In the past, Juushiro could remember Kyoraku always bothering Yama-jii for some inane matter or another, and Yama-jii would always make time for the student on most occasions – the others being when Kyoraku was bringing up serving sake in the canteen.

Now, as the rank of Captain had grown to become a symbol of power and greatness, they gradually grew more distant from the other Shinigami who looked up to them in what seemed almost like reverence.

If even Shinigami hesitate to confide in their Captains, one can only expect that Academy students stay far away.

Exiting his office with Kyoraku walking behind him, Juushiro went to meet the student and found the same boy he had met at the bar sporting a couple of faint bruises on his face and body. Upon inspection, it didn't look too serious and Juushiro assumed that there had been a fight the students couldn't resolve on their own. Juushiro was cheering inwardly as he felt somewhat pleased that students were still willing to look for him in this day and age.

'Kai got punished by the Academy instructors and he was punished with detention, but it's not his fault!' Hoshi blurted out immediately when the two Captains walked into view.

Amused by the boy's easy excitability, Juushiro smiled while ushering him into a nearby waiting room for him to comfortably narrate his tale.

It took almost half an hour for Juushiro to completely understand the situation because most of that time, he was trying to get information about the instructor out of Hoshi. Did the instructor listen to Kai or Hoshi? Does the instructor usually patrol that area? How did the instructor know Kai by name? The case sounded suspiciously like abuse of authority rather than a simple misunderstanding.

Some of it was easy for Hoshi to answer, but the rest where not things the Academy student could possibly know.

Since the boy looked like he could use some patching up, Juushiro sent him off to the Fourth Division barracks after hearing his story.

His paperwork would have to be put on hold.

Juushiro had to head to the Academy to either correct this injustice, or stop Byakuya from hurting anyone, because the noble detested these sort of backhanded affairs more than anyone else.

He _might_ have been inclined to let the other Captain run loose on campus, but having Shinigami who were willing to teach was very hard to come by, and Juushiro was personally a little miffed that Hoshi went to seek help from Byakuya first. The boy was smart to have reached out to two Captains though. If he asked only one Captain who happened to be like Mayuri, nothing would have come out of it.

Kyoraku, of course, chose to tag along with the reason "I'm Byakuya's senior and have the responsibility to oversee his actions" – as if Juushiro was supposed to be some side lackey in all this.

* * *

The Captains arrived at the staff office at the Academy to find a group of terrified instructors cowering under Byakuya's glare.

'You guys go inform Kai. Let me handle this.' Kyoraku suggested in monotone, though it sounded more like a command.

Juushiro observed his friend.

Kyoraku was seething.

Juushiro could see through the act of flippant disregard his friend always put up, but even he, who had been Kyoraku's friend for centuries, hadn't expected this much anger. He knew Kyoraku was fond of the student, but he assumed it was business as usual with his friend when nothing happened on the way to the Academy.

Here and now, this rage of his was the same one that almost killed-

'Shunsui.' Juushiro said, while placing a placating hand on Kyoraku's arm that looked like it was itching to grab a zanpakutou.

Kyoraku startled.

No one ever called him by his first name. Not even Juushiro, unless it was something very important. Did he look that unhinged?

He had to calm himself. It wasn't like there was never any injustice in Soul Society, but this one act just irked him too much for him to continue acting normally. On the way to the Academy, only the knowledge that Juushiro would stop him if he made a fuss made him keep his own emotions in check, when he really just wanted to lash out at the offenders.

When Kyoraku first saw what Kai did in his Division's barracks, he decided to monitor the student for suspicious activity since it made absolutely no sense that someone of that level of skill was a newly enrolled Academy student. Also, no matter how much she dug, Sui-Feng hadn't managed to find a single morsel of information on Kai's background. It appeared as if he simply popped out of nowhere with all his latent talent and skillful technique, but that was impossible. No matter how talented a person was, some form of training was still necessary to instil proper habit.

The more he interacted with Kai, however, the more his suspicion gave way to fondness and a sense of protectiveness. Kai was too straightforward to be any sort of spy sent by their opposition, and he had an innocent sort of charm that drew people in despite his frosty exterior. While most people hide behind masks of deceit or insecurity, when it came to Kai, what you see is what you get.

During the inter-Division contest, Kyoraku could tell that Kai was debating upon whether to hold back at first, but as he expected, the boy went all out. Although he was already exponentially more powerful than the other Shinigami, he didn't show any arrogance that came along with the power.

Kyoraku couldn't tell if that was his natural personality, or if it was bred from a soul-sucking feeling of pain and loss he could see in Kai's demeanour, so much that he just didn't know how to be arrogant about his skill anymore.

It was probably a mixture of both.

By bothering this particular student who held the interest of so many Captains, this instructor really had a death wish.

It wouldn't have been that bad if it had all been a misunderstanding on the instructor's part, but after a little probing, the Captains found out that the instructor and the senior student whom Kai attacked were from the same branch family of a noble house. They had been conspiring to shame Kai in the absurd hopes that they would gain glory in the eyes of the main family, and that the senior student would rise in prestige in the Academy since Kai's position for rapid advancement was highly coveted.

This infuriated Kyoraku, because he could recognise loneliness when he saw it, and the student he knew was undoubtedly lonely.

It was obvious from the way Kai always distanced himself from the people around him like a habit borne out of necessity rather than any desire.

In the brief interaction he had with the student, Kyoraku had seen the desolation and grim countenance that overcame the boy far too often for any regular person and for Kyoraku's liking.

To think that the offending duo would try to rob Kai of the small piece of connection he had to the community just for something as superficial as social status?

'Let me deal with this.' Kyoraku said to Juushiro more assuredly.

There was a short pause as Juushiro evaluated Kyoraku's mental state and deemed it sufficiently calm, before he ordered the rest of the instructors out of the staff office and left with Byakuya.

They wouldn't want to be in there while Kyoraku was dishing out punishment.

Juushiro almost pitied the offender.

Once Kyoraku was through with him, the Kido instructor would have to be sent to the Fourth Division for examination of his mental health.

Kyoraku could be bloody scary when he wanted to – there was a reason he could still command a whole Division despite having such a nonchalant appearance.

* * *

'Kyoraku-Taichou is dealing with... stuff.' Ichigo repeated dumbly, not quite knowing what else to talk about. Juushiro was never one to be so vague.

'Yes... _stuff.'_ Juushiro confirmed, wondering if the student had guessed what was going on.

After hearing the Captains' explanation for their presence, the instructor sitting beside Ichigo at the canteen table was shifting uncomfortably, looking ready to flee at any moment. The Zanjutsu Head had completely no part to play in this, but just being a fellow instructor was enough for him to be given a stern warning by Juushiro to better manage his colleagues.

Well, Byakuya currently did look displeased enough to senbonzakura anybody who would so much as look at him the wrong way, but wasn't that how he always looked?

Ichigo was eating in silence as he took the time to register all that the Captains had said.

He really couldn't decide how to react.

Should he be honored by the fact that the Captains came to get him out of this sticky situation?

Should he apologize for hurting the other student even if it had been a set up (because even one of Ichigo's punches could hurt like hell)?

**Thank them, Ichigo. Show proper respect. They took the time to seek you out.**

_**Screw that. It was their bloody fault Ichigo ended up like this anyway. If they hadn't brought him into the Divisions, or if they didn't advance him so fast, or if they were competent enough to do their own damned jobs while on a mission, or-** _

**They are here in front of him, Shiro. Due gratitude is called for.**

_**Gah. You twice-damned geezer with your goody-two-shoes act. Why don't you just tell Ichigo to pray at their feet already, huh? You bloody-** _

Ichigo's two spirits were arguing like a good wolf and a bad wolf, and Ichigo had to decide which one to feed.

Deciding that he didn't need anymore food, Ichigo stood up as he pushed his tray away.

'Thank you, Ukitake-Taichou, Kuchiki-Taichou, I really appreciate your help.' Ichigo thanked the Captains as he bowed.

The fact that Ichigo had been unfairly treated was something he couldn't hold against anyone. It was his own fault that he had been utterly uncaring about how others felt about him, and he had a feeling that his brash carelessness in his treatment of the other students was a huge factor for the past day's event.

Regardless of the reason they had, he was grateful that the Shinigami Captains, who should never have been involved in a lowly student's affairs, had taken the time to specially help him.

This situation seemed oddly familiar.

During the war, he had a meal like this with Juushiro once. It was after Ichigo went on a two-month long raid, and had returned only to stop for supplies and a few hours of rest – because every moment he was off the battlefield meant Aizen advancing his forces while Ichigo was out of the action.

Just as he was about to head into Hueco Mundo again, Juushiro caught up to him and sat him down in front of a bowl of hot soup. Like a mother hen, Juushiro made sure he finished every drop before seeing him off into battle. Ichigo was annoyed like any teenager would be with the coddling, but he grew to appreciate it after the next few times he was stuck on month long missions without any hot food or a soft bed.

Eight years ago, they had his back.

Eight years from then, they still have his back, even if they thought he was someone else.

Some things just never change.

* * *

'It's quite alright, Kai. We should be the ones thanking you instead for saving Rangiku-Fukutaichou and her squad. I'm sorry this had to happen.

'Right now, you're supposed to be under Byakuya for the next two weeks because of this farce of a detention, but Unohana-Taichou wouldn't be happy about us bringing you into the Divisions when you are still supposed to be having home rest.

'You can choose what you would like to do with your time since it looks like you've recovered well enough to be moving about, but I don't want to see you in your classes, especially those with physical exertion.' Juushiro said while finishing up his small meal of just bread and juice.

Ichigo was curious about where the Vizards had gone, but he chose not to ask. It would seem abnormal for a student like him to be asking after the whereabouts of high-ranking Shinigami like the Vizards.

Plus, the time without Shinji bugging him was not unwelcome.

* * *

After the Captains left the canteen of students in stunned silence, Ichigo felt a little disappointed to have heard that Kyoraku had taken his Kido instructor away.

He would have liked to have seen the terror on the instructor's face as he was forced to deal with the Captains.

No, Ichigo didn't take pleasure in someone else's pain, but for a someone who had gotten his innocent friend involved? Ichigo wasn't going to pretend to be nice. He wanted front row seats.

Ichigo took the shortest route to his room shortly after the exchange with the Captains. He wasn't ready for students to start jumping him yet.

He didn't have to go for classes since the Captains had clearly exempted him in front of the large body of students, so he had nothing to do for the rest of the week.

Deciding that he'd been cooped up long enough in his room, Ichigo decided to take a stroll around Seireitei that afternoon. There was a certain peace he got from simply walking along the streets and seeing the expressions of joy on people, instead of ones of constant fear that plagued them all throughout the war.

'Hey, you there!' A merchant called out to him. 'This blade suits you! It's allowed for use in the Academy for those who still don't get to use zanpakutou!'

There was assortment of swords displayed on the table in front of the merchant, ranging from the simple katana to western style rapiers – every sword fanatic's fantasy. Ichigo had to pause to wonder what people do with those, since Shinigami all have their own zanpakutou.

The merchant was holding out a sleek katana with black sheathe and hilt toward Ichigo. Seeing his Academy uniform, the merchant must have rightly guessed that Ichigo didn't own his own blade yet.

That sword looked so very tempting.

It has been ages since Ichigo had religiously trained with a practice blade instead of just using shikai or bankai to overpower whoever he needed to. When training, Ichigo could always pretend that everything else didn't exist, that he was training simply for the sake of getting stronger, and not because he was rushing to strike someone down.

Even though Ichigo had the zanpakutou borrowed by Raido, it didn't feel right to training with it instead of using Zangetsu or Shiro. It was as if he trusted a soul other than his own, which was close to sin. There was also something that just felt _right_ in using something that was his own – something others didn't have to be held accountable for, and something no one else could touch.

Ichigo did have this problematic possessive streak, but it was also the reason why Ichigo felt the need to protect everyone around him – because they were _his._

So, he figured he was entitled to cultivate this personality flaw.

The katana was still thrust out to him, reflecting the Sun's rays to give it that hint of silver-white over black.

If Ichigo only took it out to use for practice then maybe…

_**Yeah let's do it, King. Your skills are getting rusty as shit anyway.** _

**It will be alright if it is only for practice, Ichigo. You won't be hurting anyone.**

Ichigo made up his mind.

Even Zangetsu, who was always the more careful one, was encouraging him to get the sword, so why hesitate?

'How much is it?' Ichigo enquired. If he hadn't brought out enough, he would have to return to the dorms for more Kan.

'Ehh, it's Kai! If you're looking for a blade you could've just asked your Kosuke-nii.' A familiar voice spoke from behind Ichigo.

Ichigo would have been able to sense someone come so close to him if he hadn't restricted his reiatsu to act like an Academy student, but now, only the pranks Yachiru always played on him over the years kept him from embarrassingly jumping out of his skin.

Kosuke was standing behind him with a wide grin on his face and offering him a sword after seemingly having overheard his short conversation with the merchant.

Why would a Shinigami like him even have a spare?

_**Who the hell is "Kosuke-nii"? Don't you dare betray your Shiro-nii here, King. I'll cry buckets.** _

The physics of mentally slapping someone wasn't something Ichigo was ready to delve into, so he simply ignored his whiny companion.

'I nicked a blade from my roommate when I was in the Academy. That rich noble didn't have any need for it, anyway. It looks pretty awesome too. I think you'll like it.'

Ichigo was pretty sure that offering someone a stolen blade should be considered rude, but maybe it was a trend now or something?

The katana from the stall looked decent enough that Ichigo didn't feel like he had to owe someone a favor by accepting a gift – Kami knows he already received more help than he expected when he first began his endeavour of being a normal Academy student. Well, any hopes of the "normal" part coming true was already shot to hell.

'I'll take that blade, thank you.' Ichigo acknowledged the merchant and bought the katana before Kosuke could press him to accept his gift any further. Thankfully, he had enough Kan to pay for it or the situation would have been somewhat embarrassing.

Pouting a little, Kosuke was now walking alongside Ichigo as he browsed around the market District. In truth, Ichigo wanted to scout around Seireitei for a nice and quiet location for him to do some training with his new buy, but Kosuke was being a leech.

Why was Kosuke walking with him in the first place?

Maybe it was because he hadn't greeted the Shinigami so the guy didn't want to leave yet?

'Ah. Good day, Kosuke. Thanks for your company, I'll be off now.' Ichigo offered.

'Yea! I knew you'd warm up eventually. It's my day off today, so let's me and you hang out.' Kosuke said as he beamed at Ichigo.

So that was why Kosuke was out of his Shinigami attire and wearing a normal plain yukata, but Ichigo's intended message didn't get across at all.

He would have to resort to the direct way then.

'Why the hell are you following me when you could be doing any other thing? Just go see your brother and you can play hopscotch or something.' Ichigo finally bit out as he gave up on smiling and his semi-permanent scowl fixed into a full-blown one.

**_Yeah, boss. Show 'im you've only got one nii-chan in the world. Tch. The fool thinks he can take my place._ **

Ichigo prayed that Shiro was only trying to mess with him and wasn't entering some sort of rebellious phase.

Kosuke sighed, and his face immediately took on a stern expression.

'I knew this was coming…

'That's your problem, Kai. You lash out far too much at people, regardless of whether they are your superiors or not. I personally don't mind and find it refreshing that there's actually someone who would honestly speak their mind, but a lot of other Shinigami perceive that as undermining their authority, and a lot of them have you pegged as a troublemaker.

'It would be fine if, say, you're someone like Kurosaki Ichigo who has the backing of _all_ the Captains and Vizards, and have power enough to prevent any trash talk – not like anyone would talk trash about him anyway, since he bloody saved us. But you're different, Kai. You're only an Academy student.

'Yes, you're bloody good for a student and you've already proven yourself to be better than the average Shinigami, but you have to understand that you aren't one yet. Shinigami will still look down on you, especially those from noble families.

'I was from Rukongai so I don't place that much importance on status, but the rest all do. I'm just trying to let you know all these before you have to learn it the hard way, seeing as you're going to graduate into this world soon.' Kosuke said as he waved his arms around distractedly and pointed in random directions – he had that bad habit when he was in his speech mode.

As Kosuke turned to face Kai again, the only thing beside him was empty space.

Kai was gone.

When did he even leave?

Just to make sure, Kosuke stupidly stuck out his hand into the empty space beside him.

To walk away from talking to a superior, Kosuke had to admit, Kai had guts.

At that moment, the merchants along that street all witnessed a raving lunatic who had been talking to himself, roar with laughter.

Kosuke had no doubt that Kai was going to get far as a Shinigami.

He had absolute confidence in himself and his abilities – that much was obvious based on his actions – and Kosuke was already expecting that the student would one day become his superior.

* * *

Having left Kosuke behind while the Shinigami was distracted by his own rambling – whatever the subject was – Ichigo was now at the space under Sokyoku Hill where he had first achieved his bankai with Kisuke.

The large tavern looked exactly the same, with its strategic location allowing it remain safe from the forces of nature over the years. This was the only place Ichigo could think of that he could evade prying eyes while swinging around his zanpakutou like the expert he was.

Settling down beside a large boulder, Ichigo drew out his new blade for inspection.

_**Hmm. Pretty. I would totally bang if it was a she-sword. Kekeke** _

Ichigo prayed to Kami for patience.

**It is a shame we cannot show ourselves and you must resort to using another.**

Zangetsu was being a little jealous even though he did say it was alright…

Resolving to ignore his spirits during this training session, Ichigo stood up and shifted into a kata stance.

With each swing of his sword, Ichigo could feel his thoughts gradually die out. The mindless repetitive motions of swinging a sword always helped to clear his head, though he always made sure to have the correct form.

This went on for hours until a sheen of sweat coated his skin and he could feel his muscles slightly strained.

Regretting that he hadn't thought to bring any water along, Ichigo left his enclosed sanctuary to head to the market district for some juice or anything resembling water he could find.

Ichigo was also supposed to meet Hoshi for dinner.

He managed to stop Hoshi before class that day, and suggested to treat Hoshi to dinner as thanks for helping him clear the misunderstanding – his mother had taught him manners no matter how it might seem otherwise.

Then, Hoshi insisted that he should also treat Ichigo to dinner for saving him from the senior that night.

Ichigo would have pushed to say that it was his fault Hoshi got caught up in something dangerous like that in the first place, but Hoshi would only have argued back that it was Hoshi's own fault that he always stuck to Ichigo at the Academy. This would just go on forever like arguing whether the chicken or egg came first.

So, they were both treating each other to dinner that day.

The two were supposed to meet at a restaurant run by one of Hoshi's Uncles at seven that evening, and Ichigo was already running a little late – time passed too fast while he was training.

'Kai, you're here!' Hoshi shouted to Ichigo as he bent under the noren (shop curtains) of the ramen restaurant.

Ichigo inspected Hoshi to check if he had been hurt while Ichigo was away from the Academy, because Ichigo couldn't possibly understand the minds of students with weak-will and envy. Who knew what more they could be plotting?

To his relief, Hoshi looked fine. Ichigo really didn't want to have to whip someone's ass again when he had already been let off the hook so easily this time.

'I've ordered for us. Chef's recommendation.' Hoshi told Ichigo as he took his seat at the counter beside Hoshi.

* * *

Although the two students who were eating together didn't have much in common, the conversation flowed smoothly as Hoshi jumped from one topic to another, talking constantly in between slurping his ramen.

It was mostly Hoshi talking and Ichigo listening, and Ichigo could tell that there was more to Hoshi than most would suspect. Although he seemed to fit right into the mold of your average Academy student, Hoshi was a naturally curious person and seemed to know much more about the world than most Shinigami. He would talk about some science device he was interested in, then jump to obsess over the latest books, then suddenly go into fictional political debates. Ichigo predicted that he would make a good officer for the Twelfth Division someday.

The subjects Hoshi came up with were all interesting enough, but when it came to the topic of "Kurosaki Ichigo", Ichigo wanted to just shut the guy up.

More than Ichigo initially anticipated, the tales of his triumphs throughout the war were largely exaggerated. All the awe-inspiring scenarios focused solely on him even though there had also been other Shinigami around during the battles. It was also slightly unnerving that he was depicted as some human-shaped monster who could go forever without food or sleep and could be at more than five places at once-

'I know who Kurosaki Ichigo is.' Hoshi suddenly told him seriously, eyes boring into his from the awkward sideway angle they were sitting in.


	11. Chapter 11

'You… what?' Ichigo was stunned.

Not even the Captains had come close to guessing his identity, and they were the people who spent the most time with him – if you can count slaughtering hollows as quality time spent together. Everyone else only saw Ichigo as a lucky Rukongai upstart who was extremely talented in the Shinigami arts.

'Look. I know I might seem very naïve and dumb at times, but my investigation skills are top-notch, and I can tell when something isn't right.' Hoshi flaunted as he pulled out a sheet of paper.

Ichigo felt like a deer being watched through the scope of a hunter's rifle.

'Shiba! Look. Kurosaki Ichigo is related to the Shiba. I'm sure of it.' Hoshi exclaimed as he pointed to something on the piece of paper. 'The Shiba Clan Head suddenly returned eight years ago, just when the war ended, and they were given ample land as if in apology. I'm pretty sure they know Kurosaki Ichigo and he was the one who helped them clear their Clan's name, or the Clan Head might even be Kurosaki Ichigo himself! I'm awesome, aren't I?' Hoshi was smiling smugly as he came to his conclusion.

Before this, Ichigo would never have thought that a raving teenager would make him feel more uneasy than facing down hordes of hollows. With this revelation, however, he was relieved beyond words.

Ichigo's initial thought when he first arrived in Soul Society wasn't to hide for so long, but after spending time as a normal person instead of the "Kurosaki Ichigo" that everyone constantly relied on, he was content. It wouldn't be too much to ask for just a little more time, right?

'Hey, you should be excited too! I've devised a plan for us to meet with _the_ Hero' Hoshi pressed on when he got no outward reaction from Kai. 'I heard that there's a daughter in the Shiba Clan that had been hidden since birth. She now gathers with some teens and children beside the market to play this new ball game they created. Let's go there after school one day to check it out.'

Ichigo guessed Hoshi must be referring to Karin playing soccer. His tomboyish sister never changed even after all these years, but he could understand why Toshiro would like someone like her. It would be nice to simply spectate one of her matches like good old times, but right now, he has to avoid her and anyone else from the Shiba Clan.

'I'm going to be really busy with Shinigami matters after my short break, so why don't you go ahead yourself and then tell me what you find?' Ichigo smoothly suggested.

Hoshi looked a little disappointed at first, but he snapped out of it and declared that he was going to be the first student to ever meet "Kurosaki Ichigo" in person.

_**He would be… hmm… the sixteenth person? Because you met the rest of the class before 'im keke. You've got ta s** _ _**top getting yourself so many fans, King. I'm gonna get jealous one day if you keep this up.** _

Ichigo would have accepted it as a fair warning if there hadn't been the obvious tone of teasing in Shiro's distorted voice.

* * *

For the next few days, Ichigo had a fixed routine of training after lunch, then going back to the Academy for dinner and to practice Kido, and finally read his book until lights out.

The Vizards hadn't returned from wherever they went, and no Shinigami stopped by to bother Ichigo anymore, although he received a basket of fruits with a bento set of homemade curry. One bite into it, and Ichigo knew it was from Isshin. Even after eight years of not having Yuzu's cooking, Ichigo could immediately recognize the taste of it.

Ichigo knew this was Isshin's way of subtly bribing him to go home since it was typical of the man to think that Ichigo would succumb to just food.

It was the weekend now, and Ichigo had just exited the North gate of Seireitei to enter Rukongai. The feeling he had of something being amiss had been building up while he was walking around Seireitei, and it was coming from this direction. The one thing Ichigo learned over the period of the war was to always trust his instincts. Logic must sometimes take the backseat when it comes to supernatural creatures like hollow and Shinigami.

From the look of things, however, citizens were going about their daily activities as usual and there seemed to be nothing wrong.

Maybe Ichigo was being paranoid?

'Hey, you're an Academy student, ain't ya?' A man carrying a large axe walked up to him.

'I am.' Ichigo confirmed.

'There's been some issues with the security around here lately, so can you get word back to the Shinigami?'

'What kind of issues are you referring to? Maybe I can help.' Ichigo offered. He was personally curious since this might have something to do with his uneasy feeling.

The taller man looked at him speculatively with his eyes narrowed. The student in front of him seemed weak even for a student, but an Academy student was still better than no help at all. They were already a great deal more powerful than regular citizens.

'I'm graduating soon, so I'm almost as good as any other Shinigami.' Ichigo flaunted. He wasn't one to brag like this, but the man didn't seem to trust him.

'Alright. I'll show ya.' The man finally relented as he beckoned Ichigo to follow him.

The two men headed toward the outskirts of the District that was near the forest connecting to West Rukongai.

There was a small shed in the middle of a clearing surrounded by the tall, densely packed trees. Inside it, Ichigo could feel the presence of something – something he couldn't explain.

'This thing has been around for ages, but no one knows where it came from. Eventually, someone just built the shed around it to make it look more normal. Recently, it has been glowing like a beacon and that attracted a lot more hollows around the area. If we just stay in the residential area then it's fine, but it makes the lives of hunters and or travellers who move through the districts very difficult.' The man said.

Ichigo had been observing the man on the way to the shed, and he decided that this man must be part of the group of hunters. He had a big and strong build like a certain spiky-haired Captain he knew, and he had a few scars on his arms that were not left behind by any blade.

Looking into the interior, Ichigo saw a thin white sword lodged in the ground, standing proudly against the backdrop of the run down shed. The sword was glowing and emitting a unique sort of reiatsu signature that could have been what attracted the hollows.

'Shinigami came by to investigate this before, but they all said that there's nothing there, when clearly there's that sword sticking out of the ground there, right?' The man continued to explain. 'The thing is frickin' weird because some of the Rukongai residents can't see it but others can.'

'All Shinigami who saw it before said there's nothing? Who were the ones who came before?'

'Just some regular Shinigami on patrol.'

This was puzzling.

Ichigo didn't expect that there would be something like this left alone for years. Knowing the Shinigami, they would have removed it by now if it was affecting the frequency of hollow appearance. On top of that, it was a weapon that looked like a zanpakutou. What was the most perplexing was that some people can't see it while some can. What was the difference between those people?

'Anyone who tried to touch it so far all couldn't grab it too.' The man said as he went forward to demonstrate.

His hand passed right through it.

'That's odd.'

'Ya don't say.'

'I guess I'll try to report this to a Division and see how it goes. For now, I'll help to hunt the extra hollows around since I'm pretty free.' Ichigo decided.

If the sword hadn't caused any problem after so long, leaving it alone for a while more couldn't hurt. The man claimed that the sword was glowing to attract hollows, but Ichigo somehow doubted that, although it was just a nagging feeling in his gut that had no credibility.

'Ya don't even have your own zanpakutou, kid. Don't go playing hero. I only brought ya here to see if an Academy student can see it. I guess only Shinigami can't.' The man explained.

No, Ichigo wasn't an Academy student at all, which means _some_ Shinigami can see it – but the man didn't know that.

'I'm stronger than I look, old man. Just show me the area where hollows usually spawn.' Ichigo insisted.

Following after the man who was grumbling under his breath about disrespectful kids who didn't know their own strength, Ichigo was brought to an area of the forest which was denser and more humid than the rest.

There, he camped for the next three days.

* * *

'Raido, have you heard anything about mysterious on-goings in District One of North Rukongai?' Ichigo asked Raido when he returned to the Sixth Division.

Ichigo was supposed to be on leave for a while more, but he didn't know what to do with himself after so long of inactivity. He even camped outside in Rukongai just to have some fun with weak hollows, and he would have stayed even longer if he hadn't gotten caught by the patrolling Shinigami.

With someone hunting their hollows for them, of course the Shinigami would be suspicious, but Ichigo never thought that they would be so quick to act. It helped that he only shunpo-ed or used powers up to how much a talented prodigy probably could have, or he might have been taken to the underground prison on charges of being a spy. As it was, Ichigo was only let off with a light slap on the wrist.

When Ichigo reported in to Byakuya that day, all he received was a quick glance over by the Captain before he was told to resume his duties with Raido. The Captain apparently didn't care much for his presence even after the big showing at the Academy.

'There are more hollows than normal now, but that is not something the Shinigami there cannot handle.' Raido replied. 'And you are to continue addressing me appropriately. I do not believe we are on first name basis with each other.'

Ichigo thought Raido had already warmed up to him after that mission, but it seems he was back to sucking on ice.

'Wait, but you call me Kai all the time. It's my first name.' Ichigo realized this flaw in Raido's logic.

'Then what do I call you? You don't have any other name, do you?' Raido calmly countered.

Right. Ichigo chose to not bother with any last name when he first came up with "Kai". He just told the people who questioned him on the subject, that he forgot everything about his human life and only remembered that one character.

With regard to the puzzling sword, if even Raido didn't know about it, it must mean that Shinigami really couldn't see it and hadn't reported it at all, because having an unknown weapon left alone for centuries would have been a big issue among the Shinigami.

Ichigo didn't have that much time to think about it now, though. That sword did have a unique presence, but it wasn't what brought about the unease he was feeling - he was more sure of it now. Seeing as the patrolling Shinigami have the additional hollows under control, Ichigo would have to focus on his other duties first.

He had a courier mission to complete.

Ichigo would have thought that after completing a difficult mission, he would be given more challenging missions from now on, but they were still using him as delivery boy.

It was to the First Division this time.

* * *

'We have lost contact with the Vizards who were sent out to investigate the incident regarding the new creature. They were at North Rukongai, District Thirty, at their last point of contact. By now, we believe that they are either somewhere outside of Soul Society, or…' Sui-Feng reported at the Captains' Assembly, reluctant to voice her other theory.

'I told you all before that we should have sent someone else already.' Toshiro spoke calmly, but everyone could hear the undercurrent of agitation in his voice.

'If whatever it was took out the squad of Vizards, only by sending out at least five Captains would we stand a chance against it. Right now, we do not have that option.' Byakuya commented.

Sending out so many Captains at once hadn't happened ever since the last war, and their Shinigami would get anxious, which would in turn lead the Rukongai citizens to suspect something was amiss. Panic among the people was never a good thing.

Also, they couldn't afford to send out so many Captains together during this crucial period where they couldn't be sure which direction an attack could come from.

'Let us wait another week. If the Vizards do not return by then, we will begin to investigate.' Yamamoto-Soutaichou decided.

No one wanted to ask how this investigation was going to be carried out. Either the Captains themselves would be sent out, or low-level Shinigami would be sent out as sacrificial fodder. Both ways, they lose.

'If we can just find Kurosaki Ichigo…' Sui-Feng spoke softly as an afterthought, but the whole room of Captains heard it. Even though Sui-Feng had never been a supporter of the orange-haired Vizard, no one could deny that he was their hope – as it has always been throughout the war.

'Well, on a brighter note, I've fixed up the device to track Ichigo. I haven't tried it yet because I was rushing, so I brought it here.' Kisuke supplied amidst the cheerless group.

'Try it here.' Kyoraku directed on behalf of the room of now eager Captains.

As Kisuke was setting up the device, the Captains went on to discuss the outcomes of their join training exercise.

This initiative was newly implemented, so it was necessary to get feedback from the trials so far. There were high hopes for it at the beginning, because all Divisions were deemed to have their individual strengths and flaws, which, when combined, could make for a better unit with another strength covering up the weakness. However, the current overall sentiment was poor.

It seems the different Divisions felt it was easier to train among themselves rather than with people they were not familiar with. Also, all the Divisions each have their own unique culture and fighting style, so their training regiments hardly ever matched – one could not be suitable for the other.

'Our Divisions have decided to postpone our joint exercise because we had a bit of an issue.' Kyoraku brought up. 'The Vice-Captains' match destroyed a large part of the field, and they were already holding back from destroying even more, so we are going to put the contest on hold for now until we can find another more suitable location.'

Most of the attendees had already expected this outcome. A contest between high-ranking Shinigami was largely unheard of anyway, since it could be so destructive.

'Hmm. This is puzzling.' Kisuke said from where he was tinkering with the device.

All ears perked up at his voice.

'The signal I got from when the device was faulty back then wasn't wrong per se, it was just in the opposite direction. So, that signal was actually coming from North Rukongai instead of the South, which still doesn't make any sense.

'Right now, the signal is…' Kisuke trailed off.

'Wait, you can't go in there!' The Shinigami guard outside of the Assembly Hall shouted as the large double doors blew open.

Standing in the middle of the entrance, was an Academy student in his uniform.

'Here.' Kisuke finished.


	12. Chapter 12

Ichigo was tasked to deliver some papers to the First Division.

Looking at the cover, Ichigo could discern that it was some sort of report regarding the joint exercise they had. His curiosity winning over caution, Ichigo quickly flipped through the papers while walking toward the First Division barracks, and he saw that the contest had been postponed.

Well, Ichigo had been expecting either that, or seeing a few missing buildings around the area. Since everything was obviously still intact, there could have been only one other conclusion.

Nearing the First Division barracks which was at the centre of the Shinigami district in Seireitei, Ichigo could feel a gathering of large reiatsu signatures even while his own reiatsu was being suppressed.

Ichigo figured that the Captains must be having a meeting, which was probably why Byakuya dismissed his presence so easily – he didn't have time to deal with a stubborn Academy student who only wanted to do more work even though he was given leave.

As Ichigo walked closer toward the First Division barracks, the crowd of Shinigami naturally grew denser since the First Division was the central area for communication and directives within the whole Shinigami district. It looked like any regular day of flurried activities, and Ichigo was glad to be able to experience some easy downtime.

Of course, things never went his way.

Just as he was holding on to that though, Ichigo felt it.

A Garganta had just opened somewhere close by.

The user was skilled enough that it didn't cause any major reiatsu disturbance in the area unlike how the ones opened by normal hollows would, but Ichigo could feel it more acutely than the other ignorant Shinigami still milling about, because he had his own personal hollow.

Opening a Garganta in the middle of Shinigami territory was suicide for any hollow, and it didn't even make sense that they could open one through the barriers around Seireitei. Unless…

Vizard.

It had to be a Vizard.

Without a second thought, Ichigo shunpo-ed toward the source of the disturbance he felt. He did it at his maximum speed which ordinary Shinigami couldn't detect, in order to not alert the Shinigami around him that something was wrong. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be something a regular Shinigami could handle anyway.

Upon coming into view of the Garganta which was at a corner of a path close to the First Division barracks, Ichigo saw Kensei stumbling out of it and onto the ground. Kensei had deep wounds across his chest, and he had a dead right arm such that he couldn't even hold on to his zanpakutou anymore. Even with his lack of medical knowledge, Ichigo could see that the Vizard needed medical treatment right away.

Focusing on the task at hand, Ichigo pushed down the worry he had over the whereabouts of the other Vizards, and supported Kensei to walk beside him. The injured Vizard didn't even have the energy to think of verifying that the person beside him wasn't an enemy.

Coming to a quick decision, Ichigo lifted most of the body-weight of the man and walked as fast as he could toward the First Division's Assembly Hall.

'Who… wha-' Kensei began in his delirious state as he hung like a rag doll by Ichigo's side.

'Don't worry, I'm taking you to a really good medic I know. You'll be patched up in no time.' Ichigo assured the man in as soothing a voice as he could, because he knew from experience just how much panic sets in when one felt physically helpless and at the mercy of the people around. Kensei needed as much assurance as Ichigo could give.

Ichigo would have carried the Vizard and shunpo-ed right to where Unohana was, but he didn't want to jar Kensei's severe injuries any further – though it already looked like it couldn't get any worse.

Ignoring the Shinigami who were warning him away from the Assembly Hall, Ichigo stalked forward with determination, and his piercing glare warded off anyone who even came close to him. It helped that the bleeding Vizard beside him also added to their trepidation.

'Wait, you can't go in there!' The Shinigami on guard outside the Assembly Hall warned, as he tried to place himself between Ichigo and the final goal. Ichigo only casually brushed him aside with a wave of killing intent as he continued forward to the large double doors and kicked it open without any fanfare.

'Unohana-Taichou, I found him nearby in need of immediate medical treatment, and you were the closest one with enough skill I could think of. Please help him.' Ichigo half-pleaded with the Captain to hurry when he saw that the Captains in the room were frozen in place.

Of course they would be. Ichigo looked like a mere Academy student who entered the Assembly Hall – _kicking_ open the doors to boot. Even worse, he had done it while a meeting was taking place.

They were all almost as bad as when Ichigo had first met them – always expecting fixed customs and traditions to play out. They should have learned after meeting Ichigo that not everything goes by the rules, and even an Academy student can dare to barge in during a Captains' meeting with good reason.

Seeing Unohana jolt out of her stillness upon noticing the injured man, Ichigo rushed to lay Kensei down in the middle of the room when Unohana moved into action to bark out orders for the Shinigami outside the Hall to bring in the necessary equipment for administering first aid.

The whole Captains' Assembly was effectively put on hold as the other Captains crowded around to evaluate the Vizard's condition.

No one was complaining about the serious breach of protocol now that they all saw the seriousness of the Vizard's injuries – although Ichigo knew that he would be in trouble after this passed. He was still an Academy student after all.

'Shinji… Lisa… there…' Kensei was mumbling while fighting to stay conscious.

'Something must have gone wrong with their mission. How did he get here?' Toshiro asked.

'He fell out of a Garganta.' Ichigo supplied. In the chaos of blood, wet rags, and movement of Shinigami in and out of the Hall, the Captains had almost completely dismissed Ichigo's presence.

'You've got to get them out of there. They're stuck in Heucu Mundo.' Kensei managed to growl out a full sentence as Unohana's palms glowed green on his chest and pushed down on his struggling.

Ichigo's mind was whirling. The Vizards had clearly been sent out on a mission, perhaps to investigate that new creature, but they should have still been in Rukongai. Also, all the Vizards had the ability to open a Garganta, so why would they be stuck?

'Hey, Kensei. Why are Shinji and the rest there? Which part of Heuco Mundo?' Ichigo lightly shook the injured man as he bent down beside him by pushing aside the crowd of Captains surrounding the man.

Naturally, the Captains were affronted.

When Ichigo was forced away by Byakuya's hand placed on his shoulder, he simply shrugged it off as he tried to get answers out of Kensei again. The ex-Captain obviously wanted to talk to get them to get them to save the rest of his friends, and Ichigo needed answers.

'I need you to flare you reiatsu for a bit. Can you do that? You have to trust me.' Ichigo asked Kensei, lightly shaking the other man again.

'Kai. You have no right to be here, much less even question one of our own.' Byakura admonished as he tried the remove the student more forcefully again before Kai faces the wrath of the other Captains.

Byakuya knew that this student was stubborn, and he was right to have brought Kensei here to Unohana instead of heading to the Fourth Division barracks – how did he know they were having a meeting in the first place? – but he needed to know his place as an Academy student among the Shinigami – especially when they were Captains of the Gotei 13. No doubt, he would later be punished for entering the Assembly Hall, regardless of his efforts to save the injured Vizard. Because Kai was under his Division, Byakuya was now trying to protect him from acting impudent and breaching any other protocol.

Kensei's reiatsu flared weakly.

'Shut up, Byakuya. I know what I'm doing.' Ichigo stood up and looked straight at the noble.

'This brat of a student… someone get him out of here!' Sui-Feng had enough of the rudeness displayed by this boy since the very start when he arrived at the Hall. Did he not know proper respect and behaviour around high-ranking Shinigami?

A few Shinigami who had arrived to station themselves outside of the Hall approached Ichigo, ready to drag him out.

What came next was immense reiatsu building up around the student, and the Shinigami who were closing in were blown away by the sheer pressure. The reishi particles were reacting wildly around the area where the student was, and it felt like the level of agitation was never going to stop increasing.

Everyone was uncomfortably rooted to the spot – not by choice - and a few Captains were struggling to release their own zanpakutou upon experiencing the imminent threat, but to no avail.

They could only wait and see.

When the wind finally died down around the student, the Captains witnessed a familiar sight.

Surrounding the student was wisps of black reiatsu threads curling around his feet, as if they didn't want to be reigned back by their master after being released. In one hand, the boy was holding a short sword with a broadened tip that curved elegantly into a sharp sword point, which was fully black, adorned with white strips of elegant whimsical patterns from blade to hilt. In the other hand, there was a slightly longer and thinner straight blade that was black from tip to hilt, ending only after a thread of black fabric wound up to the elbow of the wielder, who was dressed in a sleeveless black shihakushou.

It looked glorious.

'Can you transfer some of my reiatsu to him? It should help since there are the hollow elements he needs.' Ichigo asked Unohana, totally ignoring the fact that he was now in his released shikai state and the Captains were dumbstruck and staring at him.

'Unohana-Taichou.' Ichigo probed when he received no response.

Shaking herself out of her inaction, Unohana got to work.

When the transfer was going on, the other Captains seemed to have collected their thoughts and were crowding in closer toward them now.

'He's Ichigo.' Yoruichi confirmed in a whisper, but there had been no need for that as everyone in the room already knew exactly who that person was. All of them had been in the presence of Ichigo's shikai more than enough to recognise it at sight.

'Byakuya, tell Renji I'm never going to address him as my Fukutaichou again. I almost gagged.' Ichigo said laughingly to ease the tension. 'And Toshiro, if you make any moves on my sister before I get back…'

'The transfer is done. He's out of danger for now.' Unohana supplied.

'I'm going to get them, Kensei. Just rest up and wait.' The student – no, _Ichigo_ – said, before he cut through the space before him to open a Garganta and disappeared into it just as it was closing again.

* * *

'Kai just…' Byakuya began dumbly.

Toshiro audibly swallowed.

The room of Captains where still shocked into silence.

Things were starting to make sense now, like how Ichigo could have found Kensei at the Garganta when the rest of them hadn't felt anything, and how "Kai" was so overpowered as an Academy student, but they all chalked it up to genius. There were so many minor slips in his acting in addressing them by their titles wrongly or acting indifferent toward them when ordinary Academy students would grovel in front of them. So many instances, they could have suspected "Kai" of being somebody else, but most of them didn't have the effort to spare in chasing after some mere possibility. They were all focusing on the threat, and on finding Ichigo. To think that he was hiding right under their noses all this time?

Subdued laughter was heard from Kyoraku before it became full-blown laughter when he couldn't hold himself back any longer.

'I knew it. I knew there was something about that kid. He was playing student while we were on a wild goose chase.' Kyoraku remarked in an almost euphoric state.

'I was about to say that the signal for Ichigo was pointing nearby,' Kisuke inserted, 'but I guess we got our answer.'

'That _idiot._ He could have waited to explain things to us before running off on his own. We could have sent backup.' Yoruichi said, with a silly grin on her face mirroring Kyoraku's.

'Now that we know he is Ichigo, do you really think backup will help? Sending anyone other than one of us will just hinder him.' Juushiro commented.

Kisuke was slightly annoyed that he had built the device for nothing, but so many perplexing things just clicked into place now.

The signal when he first used the device pointed North because Ichigo was there on his mission at the time. He posed as "Kai" and entered Seireitei as an Academy student, but no one could tell it was him until he showed his shikai in front of them, which he needed to open the Garganta.

Kisuke couldn't decide whether it was lucky or not that Ichigo had no time but to do it in front of a room of Captains. Of course, it was a good thing for the Shinigami that they now knew where Ichigo was hiding, but Ichigo would once again be dragged into their Shinigami affairs, and just maybe, he had been happy at the Academy.

Disrupting Kisuke's musing, Mayuri declared that he would contact the remaining Vizards in the Human World and see what they wanted to do about this situation, as he stalked out the Assembly Hall.

Within the past half an hour since Kensei was brought it, the Assembly Hall had turned into a make-shift ward as futons and towels were brought in to give the injured Vizard more comfort. Unohana refused to move him if there was no need yet, since that would only stress his injuries.

The other Captains were not quite done with registering the fact that the Academy student whom they had actually threatened to punish earlier had been Ichigo. Most of them were still milling about the Assembly Hall dumbly and uselessly, perhaps clinging on to the strong and steady presence of their long-lost Vizard who had been standing among them a moment ago.

Eventually, Unohana shooed the whole bunch out, claiming that her patient needed peace and quiet for now.

'When Ichigo gets back with the rest of the Vizards, have him report at our next Captain's Assembly.' Yamamoto-Soutaichou ordered as the Captains were leaving. He had been seated and watching quietly throughout the whole commotion.

No one even offered the possibility that Ichigo might not be able to save the rest and get back on his own.

It was Ichigo.

The rescue was already a done deal.

* * *

Ichigo was deposited on a barren piece of the desert of Hueco Mundo as usual.

He never knew what to expect whenever he used a Garganta, which was why it was easier to leave for raids for months on end. Other hollows could probably control where they wanted to appear, but the Vizards had never managed to get that down. It was probably due to the fact that they were only half hollow, so they lacked the basal instinctual directives.

Everybody would likely know that he was "Kurosaki Ichigo" by the time he got back. He was mildly regretting the fact that he couldn't think of anything better to say to his friends after eight long years of separation, but no matter. They wouldn't hold it against him anyway.

Ichigo quickly wondered what the rest of the Academy students would think. Hoshi would probably faint from shock, and the rest would likely never go close to him again, or maybe they would be crowding him to death - he could never know which way these kind of things would go.

He didn't have to show himself right then, but Ichigo didn't want to risk losing time in rescuing the Vizards when no one knew what was happening to them. Every additional second of torture was - well - torture. Ichigo would know from first-hand experience.

Now, Ichigo had to trace Kensei's reiatsu that he felt from the weak flare earlier. Some of it should still be lingering among the thick reishi particles of Hueco Mundo. Ichigo only hoped that he was close enough to feel it. For all he knew, he could be on the opposite end of wherever he should be.

'Kurosaki Ichigo.'

Ichigo immediately tensed and spun around to face the voice.

'Grimmjow? Why the hell are you here?' To say Ichigo was shocked was an understatement. As far as he knew, Grimmjow had died during the war, but here he was, standing in his full blue haired glory.

'I didn't die back then. I didn't want to be controlled by Aizen anymore, so I let myself get beat until I was weak enough to pass off as a lowly hollow. Then I ate my way all the way up to become an Arrancar again after the war. It's a lot easier when I've already done it once before. I know where all the good hunting spots are.' Grimmjow explained.

'You're being rather receptive today. Usually, you would be asking for a fight instead of answering.' Ichigo tested. If it was a fight Grimmjow wanted, Ichigo wanted to get it over and done with.

A heavy silence settled over the two and Ichigo was getting ready to manifest his zanpakutou.

'Take me with you.'

Another weighty pause.

'Huh?' Ichigo gave his most intelligent reply at that moment.

'I don't want to stay here anymore. There's nothing here. You're the only one I know who can help me. I think my instincts brought me here for that reason, and I swear I hardly killed any Shinigami during the war.' Grimmjow said almost pleadingly.

Ichigo's thoughts were now out of whack.

Grimmjow? Pleading? Those two didn't ever go together.

How did Grimmjow recognize him anyway? Did his anonymity only work on citizens of Soul Society?

When Ichigo really thought about it, it wasn't that out of character for Grimmjow to be seeking some way to get out of Hueco Mundo. Through their fights during the war, Ichigo could feel that Grimmjow was very much a free spirit like himself. To place shackles on the Arrancar was a dangerous gamble that Aizen had been willing to make. It would make sense for Grimmjow to seek out Ichigo, since being under Ichigo would immediately give him a free pass to Seireitei. If he went on his own, he would be hunted down for life – but Ichigo doubted Grimmjow could open a Garganta close to Seireitei anyway. The most he could do is to be hunted in the outskirts of Rukongai, and that was essentially the same as remaining in Hueco Mundo.

'How do I know you won't eat anyone when you're there?'

'I already have my instincts suppressed in this state, and I'll come to Hueco Mundo whenever I want to hunt. Besides, you can easily stop me, can't you?' Grimmjow explained.

Ichigo didn't know what the right decision to make was. He did pity the Arrancar for having to remain locked in Hueco Mundo – it was a nasty place to live even for hollows – and Grimmjow hadn't been that huge of a threat to them throughout the war. However, his personal feelings couldn't override the fact that other Shinigami would be against their previous enemy roaming among them.

If Ichigo insisted to let Grimmjow stay in Seireitei, he didn't doubt that it would be accepted just based on the fact that it was _him_ deciding, but he didn't want to force it upon the others.

'I have no time now to think about it. I'm heading to rescue the Vizards. Why don't you come with me and see how useful you can make yourself?' Ichigo suggested. If Grimmjow helped him to save Shinji and the rest, the Shinigami would be more likely to approve.

Grimmjow followed Ichigo in silence as they both shunpo-ed (or sonido-ed) through the unchanging desert landscape, and Ichigo had to wonder why the Arrancar was behaving so well when they were at each other's throats the last they had met. It was also suspicious that Grimmjow appeared right where he entered Hueco Mundo, as if Grimmjow had been waiting.

Ichigo would have to watch his back for a while before he could fully trust the Arrancar.


	13. Chapter 13

For the next whole day, Ichigo and Grimmjow moved toward sources of high density reishi for Ichigo to see if he could get a lead on Kensei's reiatsu signature. As more time went by, Ichigo found that he no longer monitored his back as much as before when Grimmjow was moving behind him.

For the most part, there was hardly any conversation, but during the times when the pair did talk, it was always about mundane instances in their lives. Ichigo told Grimmjow a little about how living as a human was like, and Grimmjow told Ichigo about the time he spent as a hollow. The conversation flowed more naturally than Ichigo would have expected, and from the short and seemingly superficial exchange, the two understood more about each other than what was explicitly said.

Ichigo could tell that Grimmjow didn't understand anything about camaraderie, and what he thought he knew was polluted by the bad influences of the Arrancar he spent time with under Aizen's care. He was somewhat like a naïve kid who felt entitled to act however he wanted because he was strong in this world of hollows.

Grimmjow was also very much like a child in his reactions when Ichigo talked about the most random things.

'It rained immediately after I fell off my bike when I was young, so I cried really hard and my dad had to carry me all the way home.' Ichigo was telling Grimmjow about how he used to be wimpy as a child.

'What's rain?'

At Grimmjow's question, Ichigo started and realised that hollows would have no idea what rain was since it never rained in the desert of Heuco Mundo, and it wasn't like they had much of a chance to see it during the short time they go to the Human World.

'It's water falling from the sky.' Ichigo tried to explain simply.

Grimmjow suddenly tensed and grew increasingly agitated.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the other man while fluidly shifting into a position for him to easily subdue the Arrancar should the other man suddenly attack.

**He's just excited, Ichigo.**

_He looks like he wants to beat the shit out of any living thing. You call that excited?_

'Water from the sky…?' The tone of Grimmjow's voice was filled with amazement. 'How?'

Upon seeing that, Ichigo realised that Grimmjow was indeed excited – he just had a more violent way of showing it.

'Uhh. It just falls down because the water in the air grows too heavy to stay up there.' Ichigo was wracking his brain to recall his science.

Grimmjow was thoroughly amazed. In Hueco Mundo, there was hardly any water because it was a luxury more than a necessity for hollows. The rare pathetic sources of water were fought over as prizes, and the influence hollows have over one another was largely determined by how many water sources they had.

Before Aizen and the war, Grimmjow himself owned a couple of territories over Hueco Mundo, but after everything had happened, he had grown tired of petty fighting and voluntarily fell out of the hollow rat race.

'Does Soul Society have rain?' Grimmjow asked. He wanted to see this magical thing for himself.

Did Soul Society have rain?

Ichigo, for the life of him, didn't know the answer to that question. He hadn't even thought about it because he always took nature's workings for granted even while being alive as Human. Sometimes, when it rained, he even grudgingly wished it would stop. Now, seeing someone deprived of all that wonder, he was starting to appreciate it more.

'I'm not sure about that.' Ichigo replied, and Grimmjow's body immediately slackened while a faint outline of a frown formed on his face.

He looked like a beaten cat, which Ichigo found unnervingly adorable.

_**King, I won't accept a fuckin' kitten as my son-in-law. Ya better choose more wisely.** _

Ichigo would have to research more on how mental slaps work, as a present for Shiro.

'If there isn't, maybe I can take you to the Human World once in a while…' Ichigo offered after a period of silence.

What the hell possessed him to do that?

He was growing way too soft, but the look on Grimmjow's face was almost worth it – almost.

'Let's just ditch the rest of the weaklings here and head there already.' Grimmjow grumbled.

Ichigo backtracked on his thoughts. Grimmjow would never be cute. Not unless he drops that attitude.

Deciding not to reply to that comment, Ichigo focused on sensing the reiatsu around the area again.

* * *

'What exactly are we doing?' Grimmjow asked after another few hours of running.

'We're finding the Vizards so we can get them back to Soul Society.' Ichigo replied.

'Why didn't you say so earlier? If you're looking for the Vizards, then don't bother. They'll be back in Seireitei soon.' Grimmjow said as they reached an area with denser reishi and slowed down to see if there was anything out of the ordinary.

'Why the hell did you not tell me that earlier?' Ichigo almost shouted as he skidded to a stop. They had already wasted a day running around.

'You didn't say you were looking for the Vizards.' Grimmjow said with a blank face, as if he had done nothing wrong.

Ichigo took a deep breath to calm himself.

'I obviously said I came here to rescue the Vizards, didn't I? And you were following to help me.' Ichigo said.

'How am I supposed to know you mean to find them when you say "rescue". It makes more sense to go after the person who took them and make them suffer.' Grimmjow explained.

'Why?' Ichigo was at his wit's end.

'So you'll be saving their pride.' Grimmjow replied, entirely confident of his answer.

Ichigo mentally face-palmed.

'Grimmjow, that's not "saving" anything. That's revenge. I don't carry out revenge when my friends are still alive somewhere and I can actually still save their lives if-

'Never mind, just tell me what you know about the Vizards.' Ichigo found no point in arguing against a hollow's morality.

'I saw three of them all passed out and being transported by some hollows, but there was some interference and they were just left there. Once they wake up they'll probably be able to return.' Grimmjow supplied.

'And you didn't think to help them?' Ichigo asked incredulously, with his voice slightly raised. Ichigo was desperately trying to tell himself that Grimmjow was hollow by nature.

'Why the hell would I do that?'

Grimmjow has got to be kidding.

Here he was, asking Ichigo for passage into Seireitei, and he didn't think to help the Vizards and get them to take him instead?

'Because you want to play nice to Shinigami so they'll accept you when I bring you to Soul Society.' Ichigo bit out, trying to reign in his urge to smack the back of the foolish blue head.

'I only want you. You're the only person I'll let take me to Seireitei. Otherwise, I'd rather stay here.

'So, you've decided to take me, eh?' Grimmjow ended his explanation somewhat smugly.

Ichigo remained flabbergasted for a precious few seconds before he decided that he didn't even want to try understanding Arrancar logic anymore.

'Where did you last see them?' Ichigo asked.

At that, Grimmjow just sonido-ed away, indicating for Ichigo to follow.

* * *

Sure enough, the pair found the Vizards where Grimmjow said they would be, but they were still passed out, and there were only two of them.

Lisa wasn't there.

The best course of action would be for Ichigo to leave Grimmjow with the unconscious Vizards so Ichigo could search around the area for Lisa, but he still didn't know if he could trust Grimmjow.

So far, their interactions were somewhat cordial and the Arrancar genuinely seemed to not want to harm Ichigo. However, Ichigo couldn't leave the safety of his friends up to the chance that Grimmjow might not be lying. Also, from their previous conversation, Ichigo had no doubt that Grimmjow would heartlessly leave the Vizards to die if he found it troublesome to help them.

'Let's camp here until the rest wake up.' Ichigo finally decided. Shinji and Hachigen didn't look too badly hurt, so they could wait before receiving treatment.

* * *

On the second day of being in Hueco Mundo, Shinji finally stirred, but it wasn't enough for him to fully wake up yet, and Ichigo had to tamper down on his eagerness to leave.

Grimmjow was sprawled on his back and snoozing like the cat he was a little further down, having not a care in the world about the possible threats that could pop up. Granted, no hollow would attack him unless a Vasto Lorde pops by – and that was exceedingly rare. The only threat toward him was Ichigo.

Did this mean the Arrancar trusted him that much? It was true that Ichigo wouldn't do something as backhanded as attacking an unconscious person, but Grimmjow was their enemy in the war. He could do with more caution.

At around midday, Ichigo noticed a lone speck that was moving toward them. Even though it was still far away, it had a distinct human shape that Ichigo hoped belonged to Lisa.

As the figure came closer, Ichigo could make out Lisa's full-framed glasses and long plaited hair.

'Lisa, you're alright.' Ichigo left the group behind and shunpo-ed toward her as she looked like she would need the support.

'Who are you?' Lisa asked the obvious question while leaning against the Academy student who was clearly trying to help.

Ichigo had resealed his zanpakutou while waiting, and was now back in his Academy uniform. Anyone in their right minds would be suspicious of an Academy student wandering around Hueco Mundo.

'I'm Ichigo.'

There was a spark of realisation on her face as she took in his full form, and without further questioning, she hugged him unreservedly.

Ichigo, meanwhile, stumbled slightly backward, not knowing how to hug back or do anything else. It had been a long time since he last had human contact, and feeling it so suddenly in the middle of a desert was a bit of a shock.

To add to the awkwardness, Lisa had never really been one to show outward affection like this, and Ichigo had to wonder just how much of an impact he had left when he went missing. When he had left all those years ago, he assumed that everyone would be upset for a good long while, but he expected that he would eventually be forgotten or be left buried as a fond memory.

This, he did not expect.

'Lisa, I need you to tell me what happened.' As usual, when Ichigo was flustered, he would go back to business. Business was something he could handle and it allowed him to avoid focusing on whatever he didn't want to focus on.

Grimmjow, sensing the minor disturbance, had already woken from his little nap and was sitting next to the unconscious group of Vizards when Ichigo and Lisa reached their pathetic campsite.

Ichigo momentarily paused to berate himself for leaving the Vizards alone with the Arrancar. Even though they now knew each other better, it still wasn't wise to trust the other man so much. Furthermore, Grimmjow's reasons for being with him was incomprehensible.

For the next hour, Lisa explained the series of events that had led up to the situation they were now in.

The Vizards had been sent to North Rukongai to investigate this new weird creature that showed up, and they started at District Thirty. There, they did indeed come across this creature that just spawned in front of them in the forest – it might have been a coincidence, but likely not. Like what Rangiku's squad reported, there was a screech and a build up or reiatsu, but unlike the Shinigami who succumbed to it, it did not affect the Vizards. The creature was easily dispatched when it became clear that the Vizards couldn't obtain any information from it.

After camping for a few days there and not seeing so much as a hollow, the group had decided to move on, when another creature that looked the same appeared. It only looked the same, but this time, the passive effects of its high reiatsu release was strong enough to affect them, and the group was taken by other hollows while they were unconscious. Only Kensei managed to retain some of his energy because he had been standing at the back and Shinji acted fast enough to shield him from most of the effects. Lisa too, had been shielded a little by Shinji, so she had been the fastest to regain consciousness.

Lisa didn't know what happened between the time she had passed out and when she woke up, but she assumed that Kensei had gone to get help since he alone, in his weakened state wouldn't be able to do anything even if he had stayed.

When Lisa came to, she found their group at the exact spot they were at. She was still too weak to open a Garganta, so she decided to scout the surrounding area for some form of protection against hollows, and maybe set up Kido barriers if she could.

However, she had overestimated her own strength as she passed out again shortly after, away from the rest of the group.

It was only luck that kept hollows from getting close to her, and after she came to, she rushed back immediately to check on the rest of the Vizards.

So here she was.

Ichigo could see the immense relief in her demeanour and was glad he made the choice to come for them immediately instead of waiting for the Shinigami's bureaucratic nonsense to take place.

Well, now that she was here, Ichigo didn't have to find her anymore and could just take all of them back to Seireitei while they were unconscious.

The problem was… Grimmjow.

'Take him with us.' Lisa voiced.

Ichigo glanced at Lisa. She had been talking with Grimmjow while Ichigo was checking up on Shinji and Hachigen.

Ichigo wondered what Lisa concluded from that chat with Grimmjow, but since she was always the level-headed one in the group, Ichigo decided to trust her and to trust his gut.

In order to carry both Shinji and Hachigen back, Ichigo required the Arrancar's help anyway. He definitely couldn't carry Shinji while also carrying Hachigen, who was large enough to fill in as four people. Lisa was still weak and couldn't bear the burden of another person's weight, but at least she could walk on her own.

Grimmjow would have to take Shinji.

Seeing Grimmjow pick Shinji up caused Ichigo's heartbeat to accelerate for a moment, and Ichigo was completely tensed, waiting to strike if needed.

When nothing happened after a moment, however, Ichigo relaxed and moved to lift Hachigen while in his shikai release.

'Grimmjow, I'm not promising anything, but I'll do what I can to get the Shinigami to take you in.' Ichigo told the Arrancar, and Grimmjow nodded in acknowledgement.

A Garganta opened before them.

* * *

The group entered Seireitei close to the Ninth Division barracks, so they had to shunpo over to the Fourth Division barracks to relinquish their charges. After only a few meters, it became obvious that Lisa couldn't keep up, and Ichigo was struggling to come up with something to get them all safely deposited with a medical officer. They had to get to the Fourth Division quickly before anyone who noticed a suspicious Arrancar figure could stop them.

Just then, Grimmjow wrapped his arms around Lisa and casually threw her over his shoulder before looking at Ichigo with one eyebrow raised.

He was indicating for Ichigo to lead the way.

Without any mishaps, the group made it to the Fourth Division barracks. Along the way, some Shinigami noticed an unknown and a suspicious Academy student moving around Seireitei and reported it to their Captains. Only the fact that the Shinigami couldn't keep up with Ichigo's and Grimmjow's speed kept the Shinigami from stopping them. Maybe the Vizards' presence had also helped somewhat.

'Get Unohana-Taichou.' Ichigo ordered the medics on duty.

The medics all automatically moved into action without question.

The Shinigami weren't even sure whether it was because of the pressing need for their Captain's expertise to tend to the injured, or it was because of the tone of command that could have only been borne from a seasoned leader used to issuing short and effective directives.

In less than five minutes, not only had Unohana arrived, but the emergency ward was slowly filling up with the upper echelon of the Gotei 13, as if they had planned on having a meeting in that small room.

When each Captain noticed Grimmjow in the same room, there was tension at first, but reiatsu levels remained stable when they saw that Ichigo was standing close to him and acting as chaperone. What remained were mistrustful glances toward the Arrancar.

After the initial commotion died down, Unohana managed to shove the pack of powerful Captains into another waiting room while she tended to the Vizards.

Naturally, Ichigo and Grimmjow were included.

* * *

The room was about half the size of the Captains' Assembly Hall, and there were a few sofas placed along the walls with coffee tables that had tea sets prepared on it.

Ichigo stood by the door and said nothing, merely taking stock of the people in the room.

There was the Kyoraku and Juushiro pair sitting on one of the sofas. Byakuya was leaning next to the window and Toshiro was standing stiffly beside him. Yoruichi was perched on the armrest of the sofa near the door and Kisuke was leaning against the wall beside her. Sui-Feng was standing beside Kisuke.

The other Captains either hadn't arrived yet, or didn't plan on being there.

How should Ichigo behave in front of them?

What does he even say?

Somehow, Ichigo doubted "sorry, I've been away and now I'm back, surprise!" would be enough.

He also had to make sure Grimmjow doesn't say anything to aggravate his own situation.

'What the fuck? What's with the ogling?' Grimmjow broke the silence and naturally, all eyes were now on him.

Too late.

Ichigo immediately moved in front of the Arrancar to block him from view, more worried now that the Captains would do something to him instead of him misbehaving.

'This is Grimmjow. I picked him up in Hueco Mundo.' Ichigo introduced, even though there was no need for that – they all knew the Arrancar. It just felt like a formality that was required.

'I'm not some stray cat.' Grimmjow scoffed from behind Ichigo.

'Why is he here?' Sui-Feng asked after a moment of silence.

Ichigo was thinking about how to convey it nicely when-

'I followed Ichigo.' Grimmjow decided to speak for himself. 'And I'm staying here.'

There was indignant spluttering from Sui-Feng and some coughing from Juushiro when he choked on his tea.

'You're an Arrancar. You don't get a say in this. I suggest he either be sent back to where he came from or be put in our custody.' Sui-Feng said.

'What? No way-' Grimmjow was ready to defend himself when Ichigo cut him off.

'I promised him that I would bring him here if he behaves.' Ichigo explained.

The Captains looked at each other. If it was Ichigo's decision, then this was another matter entirely. They couldn't simply disregard it and condemn the Arrancar like they would normally have.

As if coming to a silent agreement, Juushiro suggested on behalf of the Captains, to have Grimmjow chained to a Shinigami for him to move freely around Seireitei. This was the same punishment they used for Shinigami who broke certain laws. In the meantime, they would have to report to Yamamoto-Soutaichou and see how things go from there.

'I have to wonder if it is wise for you to protect that Arrancar. He was our enemy in the war. No Shinigami would trust him, and you shouldn't either.' Sui-Feng added on.

'Fuck you and your pansy Shinigami. I'm not gonna be chained to one of your minions.' Grimmjow bit out.

Ichigo was suppressing the urge to knock Grimmjow out. The Arrancar was asking for trouble.

'Look. He's already rebelling. I think it is better to have him locked up while we decide on what to do.' Sui-Feng said.

'If your shit level of power can even hurt me in the first place, I would let you.' Grimmjow retorted.

'You don't sound like you're asking to be allowed to remain here. Why do you even want to stay in the first place?' Toshiro asked.

There was silence as Grimmjow stared at Toshiro.

'Why do I have to answer to you tiny fucks?' Grimmjow finally answered.

Ichigo's patience was nearing its limit. The way Grimmjow was acting, it was like he was trying to start a conflict. This was different a different behaviour from when he was with Ichigo in Hueco Mundo, and Ichigo felt somewhat cheated.

Having to convince one party to allow the other to stay was already hard enough, but this was like he had to convince Grimmjow that he himself wanted to stay as well.

'What the hell do you want? Is this your way of thanking me for bringing you here? Just to make trouble?' Ichigo turned on Grimmjow and ground out. 'Maybe she's right and we should send you back. I can make an exit for you right here.'

Ichigo and Grimmjow stared each other down as the other occupants of the room tensed.

'Let me stay.' Grimmjow finally said.

'Ever since I first became a Vasto Lorde, I was always seeking power. We all naturally seek power. Have you never wondered why Aizen had so many followers? Aizen came along with enough power that we all followed him. I thought his power was worth it at that time. But then you showed up. You have a power that's different from his – even different from all these fucking pathetic Shinigami in this room. So I'm following you now.'

'As simple as that? You're drawn to Ichigo?' Kisuke asked from the side.

'What do you mean as simple as that, you birdbrain? We superior hollows have pride enough to only submit ourselves to those we deem worthy. Tch. You know how hard it is finding someone like Ichigo? It's not so simple.' Grimmjow glared at the bucket-hat wearer.

Ichigo realised that this was what made Lisa advocate for bringing Grimmjow along.

'Fuck you all. I'm staying with Ichigo. I'll kill you lot if I have to.' Grimmjow said almost petulantly as he crossed his arms and resolutely stared to the side.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was just trying to shut off the mental connection with a raving Shiro who was blabbering about something along the lines of "let me fuck that hollow up".

Was Ichigo a hollow magnet now?

No, Ichigo decided he didn't want an answer to that.

'If we let you stay with Ichigo, will you do as we say?' Juushiro probed

'I'll do it if it's Ichigo asking.' Grimmjow relented. 'But if any other Shinigami so much as spouts a request then they're dead before they can say "Grimmjow-sama" – and that includes you lot.'

Ichigo still didn't know if Grimmjow was trying to ask for acceptance or trying to start a fight.

'Don't pin this on me, Grimmjow. I'm not going to be responsible you.' Ichigo tried to divert the responsibility from himself. A human-sized pet that could destroy Seireitei single-handedly if not stopped? Ichigo didn't need any other abnormality.

'You already picked me up and promised me you'd take me in but now you're ditching me?' Grimmjow asked.

In any other context, this conversation could take on a whole other meaning that Ichigo didn't want to think about. Why, for Kami's sake, could he not attract normal girls to be around him instead of an Arrancar who might act to kill him whenever someone more powerful comes along?

Ichigo wanted to deny Grimmjow's accusation, but some of the Captains seemed to be relenting.

Kyoraku, for one, looked completely at ease. He could always be counted on for a chill pill.

Ichigo sighed.

'Just do whatever you want.' Ichigo gave up.

'I'm staying then. I can bunk with ya. You said you'd bring me to see rain.' Grimmjow announced.

'What makes you think we'll let you do what you want?' Sui-Feng's voiced was raised now.

'Ichigo told me to.' Grimmjow said with a smug smile.

'Wha-' Sui-Feng was about to start another rant when she was cut off.

'Don't be such a hissy. You lot have to listen to Ichigo too, don'tcha? Since he's the strongest.' Grimmjow explained without any knowledge of Shinigami hierarchy – although he wasn't completely wrong. Ichigo's opinions mattered a lot in any discussion regarding the Gotei 13.

Somehow, the room of Captains were rebuked into silence at that – the statement rang too true.

'Alright. Let's have Grimmjow stay with Ichigo for now. We'll update Yamamoto-Soutaichou and see how this goes.' Juushiro finally mediated. After the Arrancar's more thorough explanation for wanting to remain in Seireitei, Juushiro saw that he was better left alone for now when he was harmless rather than forcing him out and starting a needless conflict.

'Now, Ichigo. Let's discuss your position, shall we?' Juushiro began on the more important topic.

Ichigo blanched. He had been trying to avoid that for as long as he could.

All of a sudden, Ichigo was smothered in a bone-crushing hug from Yoruichi.

'Gah. Doesn't this break Captain's code of conduct during a meeting or something?' Ichigo huffed out between Yoruichi's ample breasts that was in his face.

'This isn't an official meeting, and I'm not a Captain.' Yoruichi playfully replied.

Upon closer inspection of their dressing, Ichigo saw that Yoruichi's haori had a different design than the rest of the occupants.

'I'm the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukido and Sui-Feng is still the Captain of the Second Division, but I attend every Captains' Assembly.' Yoruichi supplied when she saw that Ichigo was confused. 'You would have known if you'd stayed to hear the placements after the war.'

That was a light admonishment from Yoruichi and everyone knew it.

_**King, how long are you gonna let that women hang off you? Well, I can't blame ya if you want a quick fuck.** _

Ichigo eye-rolled at that comment.

'Ow, what was that for?' Ichigo flinched when Yoruichi pinched him.

'I was being serious and you dare to roll your eyes at me? Maybe we need to remind you of how spartan my trainings can be.' Yoruichi threatened.

Ichigo hadn't realised he actually rolled his eyes. It was becoming too much of a reflex now.

'I was talking to Shiro and he was saying shit.' Ichigo tried to placate the angry women.

At least, with this, Yoruichi had relinquished her hold on him.

'I-' Ichigo started then paused.

'I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly all those years back. I probably should also apologize for posing as another person for so long since I've been in Soul Society. I didn't mean to do that, but since nobody could recognize it was me, I decided to – well – hide. I did plan to come clean eventually…' Ichigo trailed off.

'Ichigo, what do you want to do now?' Kyoraku asked. This was the main question weighing on everyone's minds and also the main reason they headed immediately to the Fourth Division barracks when they heard Ichigo had returned. What Ichigo decided to do in the past was irrelevant, and most of them could see why he had done it. There was nothing to forgive.

They should probably also be asking about the situation with the Vizards, but this took precedence.

Ichigo was slightly confused at the disregard for his apology. Why were the Captains even asking him what he wanted to do? Was there even any choice?

'To be honest, we need your help in getting rid of this new threat, which was the reason why we were searching so hard for you after you passed on. We never would have thought you'd be able the sneak in to the Academy without us knowing.' Juushiro supplied before Ichigo could get a word in. 'Right now, we're asking if you would be willing to continue helping us, since it's entirely up to you whether or not you do. After all, you have no obligation to become a Shinigami, but all of us are hoping you do.'

The answer should have been obvious enough.

'Of course I'll help.' Ichigo replied immediately, feeling slightly affronted.

'That's really good to hear. We'll keep your identity a secret among us Captains for now, and you'll continue attending the Academy on your fast track programme, but every now and then, we'll call for you to go on a mission.

'You needn't report to the Sixth Division anymore since you obviously don't need the practical experience. We're thinking of placing you with the Vizard's squad once they are fully recovered.' Juushiro explained further.

'I'll still be a student?' Ichigo enquired.

He had entirely expected to be drafted into a Division immediately, and maybe made a seated officer or even a Vice-Captain.

'Yes, of course. You've always been a student anyway, and you'll have to attend lessons normally for now. You need to learn about Shinigami law and proper protocol.' Juushiro elaborated. 'Do you want the other Shinigami or other students to know about your true identity?'

Ichigo wondered what it would be like to be "Kurosaki Ichigo" while attending the Academy. After a moment of thought, he decided he didn't want to find out. The possibilities were too varied, and most of it pretty scary.

'I'll be Kai.' Ichigo stated resolutely.

'Alright. Kai, go to the Shiba residence later in the evening. It's an extra-curricular assignment.' Kyoraku ordered.


	14. Chapter 14

After Ichigo reported about the Vizards and what he had learned from Lisa, he left the Captains to discuss the situation and headed back to Shin'o Academy to wash up.

It all felt too normal that every person was still ignoring him when he had fully expected to be accosted and recognised as "Kurosaki Ichigo" when he got back.

Well, there were some people staring, but it was because of the sight of a bright blue-haired Shinigami following behind him.

After some discussion, the Captains in the room decided to dress Grimmjow in Shinigami shihakushou for him to blend in. Even with his obvious hollow mask, he could easily pass off as an abnormal Vizard that way, since only a few Shinigami had come face to face with him during the war.

Grimmjow insisted on staying at the Academy with Ichigo. Since Ichigo was too tired to argue anymore, he just let Grimmjow do as he wished and left it to Juushiro to come up with some excuse for them.

Just a few days ago, Ichigo was a carefree Academy student, but now, he had so many problems to think about.

There was that mysterious sword that Ichigo hadn't done anything about yet; there was the problem with the new creature that even managed to harm the Vizards; there was the Captains and meetings that he now had to be a part of.

Mainly, however, Ichigo was worried about the meeting later.

Kyoraku said he had to go to the Shiba residence.

No doubt, he would be forced to face his family and he didn't even know how to prepare for it since it wasn't even something one could prepare for. Ichigo would rather face down a horde of hollows any day. At least for that, he could train.

Ichigo took a long stroll to the Academy to clear his thoughts, so it took quite some time for him to reach.

When he got there, he saw the Zanjutsu Head already waiting for him at the entrance upon receiving Juushiro's orders, and had to wonder if Juushiro had told the man about his true identity.

'Kai-kun, I received word from Ukitake-Taichou that you have a guest and we are to accommodate the two of you as best we can.' The Shinigami informed Ichigo.

Seems like Juushiro was going to let Ichigo expose himself if he wished.

'Yes, this is…' Ichigo didn't discuss what Grimmjow would be called yet. 'Call him Aoi.'

Ichigo glared at Grimmjow to shut him up before he could object.

_**You should get an award for your creativity, milord. Kekeke.** _

Ichigo ignored Shiro. He personally thought "Blue" sounded very appropriate for the Arrancar.

'Alright. We've already shifted your things to another room with double beds that is in the same dorm building as your previous room. I'll show you to it.'

* * *

'Tch. You Shinigami are so soft, needing these thick spongy things to sleep.' Grimmjow proclaimed as he seated himself on the bed and started to bounce on it.

The room Ichigo was given was in the instructors' wing and it had its own private bathroom. Juushiro really went all out for him.

Ichigo wondered at first why the instructors didn't think to question anything – no normal student would be treated so well – but on second thought, Ichigo figured no one would dare to question a Captain's directive.

Ichigo was now rooming with an Arrancar.

It figured that the first roommate he ever had in his life would be someone who might just opt to break his neck in excitement over one trivial issue or another.

No matter what the Captains might think, tust because he was Kurosaki Ichigo, it didn't mean that he would always be able to keep the Arrancar in check. Ichigo wasn't confidence that he would be able to restrain Grimmjow if the Arrancar went wild. Grimmjow was a strong and experienced fighter in his own right.

Kill him? Easy.

Incapacitate? More tricky.

Maybe that was the intention of the Captains for leaving Grimmjow with him.

Ichigo decided he would just think about it if it happens.

Noticing that the katana he bought was left standing against his desk, Ichigo contemplated going for some light training. He wanted to clear his head while he had the chance to, instead of just sitting in the room and worrying about the upcoming evening he would be spending with his family.

'Stay here. I'm going out for a bit. Behave yourself.' Ichigo said to Grimmjow before preparing to shunpo out the window.

'Oi, wait. I'm coming with you.' Grimmjow said as he stood up.

Deciding that it would be harmless, Ichigo merely nodded and took off.

* * *

'Kurosaki Ichigo, fight me. It's been too long.'

Ichigo stopped in his tracks.

He was casually walking toward his usual training ground when a familiar figure stepped in front of him. That large build, spiky hair and eye patch was already impossible to miss, much less with the added Captain's haori waving around the man.

'Ichi~' Yachiru popped up from where she was hanging onto the man's shoulder. 'Don't just play with Grimm-chi, play with us too!'

Like all the other Captains, Kenpachi had received the news of Ichigo's return the moment the Shinigami noticed a suspicious group around Seireitei, and he immediately set off in the direction of the Fourth Division barracks – or so he thought.

As usual, with his horrible – and that's an understatement – sense of direction, he had wound a few rounds around Seireitei but still failed to reach his destination. Eventually, he had to have Yachiru track Ichigo with that keen sense of hers.

Ichigo could feel a headache coming on.

When the brutish Captain hadn't been at the impromptu meeting previously, he was relieved that he didn't have to deal with this Captain's eccentricities, but he should have known that this would come sooner or later.

Ichigo just wanted some peace while training.

He sighed.

'This is more trouble than it's worth. We split on three.' Ichigo whispered to Grimmjow.

'Huh? We can just fight.'

'One.'

'Oi, it's not like you're weaker than this brute, right?'

'Two.'

'Oi, oi. Are you seriously running?'

'Three.'

* * *

Ichigo used his fastest shunpo to get to his training ground since he was trying to outrun a Captain, but Grimmjow wasn't anywhere behind him.

Kenpachi must have caught him, or maybe Grimmjow didn't take Ichigo's advice to run.

That fool didn't understand the terror that was a Kenpachi hounding after him yet, but he would soon, like Ichigo eventually did.

Ichigo hesitated at the entrance to the training area, wondering if he should save Grimmjow, but then Ichigo just headed in anyway.

Grimmjow would survive - he already survived Aizen, so playing with a Kenpachi was probably no big deal.

During the whole time while he was training, Ichigo was thinking about all the possible scenarios that might take place later that evening.

Ichigo was no writer or poet, so no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a good way to convey how he felt.

Each swing of the katana carried with it Ichigo's frustration, and only much later would he realise that he could already use Zangetsu or Shiro now that the Captains already knew of his true identity.

Yuzu would be the easiest to handle. Forgiveness and understanding was basically imprinted into her soul the moment she was born. She would hug him and insist on feeding him with some of her cooking instead of getting him to talk or guilt-tripping him.

Karin was brash, but she understood him well, so he might get a punch or two, but that would be all.

Isshin already knew about him and seemed to accept the decisions he had made.

**Then what are you worrying about, Ichigo?**

Zangetsu was right. He didn't actually have anything to worry about. They were family, after all.

Deep down, however, Ichigo could feel that there was something bothering him.

There was that nagging feeling that he couldn't shake because of what he had seen throughout his life.

People change.

In the eight years he hadn't seen his family and friends, the people he knew might have changed. They might be people he didn't understand anymore, or people whom he cannot associate with anymore.

The apprehension only got increasingly worse.

* * *

When Ichigo finally emerged from the underground training area, the sun had already set.

Since Seireitei wasn't on fire and the alert hadn't sounded, Ichigo assumed that Grimmjow and Kenpachi were somewhere behaving well and not wreaking havoc.

It was probably already past the time Kyoraku had meant for him to report at the Shiba residence, but the Captain did say "evening", which meant anytime until midnight, and Ichigo was dragging it out for as long as he could.

He would charge straight at hollows any day, but give him emotional meetings to deal with, and he would turn tail and run. It was a typical Ichigo response.

Ichigo had to walk through the market district that was bursting with dinner activities to get to the area where the nobles lived. He could have simply shunpo-ed, but Ichigo wanted to take in the sights and smells of life in Seireitei that he had missed for so long – who was he kidding? He just wanted to waste time.

Approaching the Shiba residence after stopping for a drink – twice – along the stalls in the market district, chatting with the elderly bookstore owner he met before, and circling round the noble residential area, Ichigo was now one street away from the main entrance.

He could hear the sound of chatting and laughter from within the compound, which suggested that there were more people than Ichigo initially thought there would be. He had assumed that only his family and maybe some Captains would be there.

With so many people in attendance, Ichigo was already regretting having exposed himself.

**We are with you, Ichigo. You will have to face it sooner or later, and you would rather it be on your own terms, wouldn't you?**

_**It's alright, King, we can fuck up whoever we want to anyway.** _

If even Shiro was encouraging him, Ichigo must be showing way too much anxiety.

Steeling his mind for the meeting, Ichigo resolutely walked through the entrance and into the main hall of the building.

* * *

The hall was set up to receive a large number of guests, with piles of food and drinks placed on a table along the wall, and cushions set up around a low and long table in the middle of the room which was filled plates and bowls of half-eaten food. The occupants of the room were either seated at the table, or standing to one side talking and piling food onto their plates.

There was… everyone.

The Shiba family, Captains and Vice-Captains Ichigo was close to, and even some other Shinigami who knew Ichigo.

A whole series of possible conversations and reactions cross his mind in an instant, and Ichigo was ready to bolt.

'Uh…' Ichigo was the centre of attention the moment he entered the hall. 'I forgot to bring sake, so I'll just go get some.'

He was slowly backing out as he awkwardly pointed his thumb to the empty space behind him.

'Ichi-nii!' Ichigo heard Yuzu yell before he was tackled and embraced by a small form.

While Ichigo had grown even taller and filled out nicely into an adult frame, Yuzu was still the same size she had been when she died, so Ichigo's body completely dwarfed hers.

Ichigo had to crouch down to fully envelop her.

After not having contact with her for so long, he only just realised how much he had missed her.

Ichigo had been crushed when his family died during the war, and he threw himself into battle one after another, so much so that Unohana had gently advised him to seek therapy for his mental health.

After the war, Ichigo refused to face his failure and left before anyone even came to realise it.

Now, Yuzu was here in front of him, warm in the flesh exactly like how he remembered and most importantly, _alive._ She smelled like sunshine and rain, and there was a lingering scent of smoke from cooking. The body Ichigo held was so small and fragile, but she radiated a kind of strength that the females of the Shiba household shared. It was comforting – a comfort he hadn't had the luxury to feel in years. He missed this _so much._

Something warm was wet against him cheek. Was Yuzu crying?

'You're so silly, Ichi-nii.' Yuzu gently scolded as she hugged him even more fiercely.

Ichigo realised it was him who was crying, and their roles were reversed, where he was clinging onto her like a child with his head tucked against her shoulder.

'I'm so sorry.' Ichigo whispered.

He didn't know what exactly he was apologising for. Maybe it was for pathetically crying upon their first meeting in years, or for letting them die in the first place, or for not keeping in contact while he was in the Human World, or for avoiding them even after death – there were too many things.

Whatever it was, he wanted – no, he _needed_ – to apologise, even though he already knew he had been forgiven.

When Yuzu moved to pull away, Ichigo held onto her tightly.

'Just stay like this for a while more.'

The fact that he was in front of an audience had just dawned on him, and Ichigo could feel the heat rising to his cheeks in embarrassment.

Ever the perceptive one, Yuzu used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away his tears before pushing his shoulders back and grinning at him.

'Welcome home, Ichi-nii.'


End file.
